Out of the Sea
by HorrorFan6
Summary: Merman prince Hiccup Haddock yearns to learn about the human world, and when he saves the Viking Astrid Hofferson from drowning he decides he'll stop at nothing to win her heart...even if it means selling his voice to the Sea Witch Excellinor, who is plotting to overthrow his father and take over the sea. Basically Disney's "The Little Mermaid" with the HTTYD characters.
1. Chapter 1: Fathoms Below

**A/N: Hello! All right then…this is the first time I've attempted a crossover so let's see how it goes. I hope you enjoy it! **

**Just a heads-up, this will have both movie and book characters. I've done my best to make sure everyone stays in character, but I do have to apologize: Wodensfang is going to be horribly out of character. I'm pretty much borrowing his name and attaching it to an original (sort of) character. Sorry, but it was the only way to make it work. **

**HTTYD belongs to Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks SKG.**

_**The Little Mermaid **_**belongs to Disney and is based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. **

Chapter One

Fathoms Below

The morning was quiet off the shores of Berk. A light fog had rolled in during the night, concealing the ocean in a layer of white mist. A flock of Terrible Terrors soared through the haze, calling and screeching to each other as they looked for a place to land. Down below, a Scauldron lifted its massive head from the sea, letting out a quiet snarl to warn the smaller dragons away from its territory. Knowing they were no match for the much bigger sea dragon, the Terrors flew away, a few of them squawking indignantly. The Scauldron snorted and then turned its head. It had sensed something else in the vicinity, something big…

That something was a Viking ship, which burst through the fog like some great beast leaping from its hiding place. The Scauldron ducked its head back into the water and swam away, suddenly wary. A ship could mean only one thing: humans.

And indeed, the boat was manned by a crew of about twenty Vikings, natives of the Isle of Berk, all laughing and singing cheerily as they threw their nets over the side, hoping for a good catch. Their rough voices carried over the misty surface of the sea, their song echoing in the stillness beyond:

"_I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue_

_And it's hey to the starboard, heave ho_

_Look out, lad, a mermaid be waiting for you_

_In mysterious fathoms below_"

There was much grunting and huffing as the Vikings pulled in their nets and started transferring the fish they'd caught into barrels positioned on the deck. It was a good catch: this would go a long way in stocking the storehouse on the island. Winter was on its way and they needed all the food they could possibly gather. The sea's generosity kept the mood on board light enough for the men to continue their song.

"_Fathoms below, below_

_From whence wayward Westerlies blow_

_Where Stoick is king and his merpeople sing_

_In mysterious fathoms below_"

As the men worked and sang happily, a young Viking girl of sixteen peered over the side, observing the foggy landscape. She was rather tall for her age, her blond hair tied in a simple braid that fell down her back, her blue eyes sharp and piercing. Her skirt was spiked and she carried her favorite axe in her right hand. She took a deep breath, ignoring the song still bursting forth from behind her ("_Heave ho / Heave ho_") and said to no one in particular, "Isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face…" She sighed. "A perfect day to be at sea."

She heard a gagging noise from behind her and looked around. Snotlout Jorgenson was leaning over the opposite rail, currently losing his breakfast to the waves. "Oh yes…delightful," he muttered.

Astrid Hofferson rolled her eyes at her friend's sarcasm but didn't comment.

"A fine wind and a following sea," said a large man with a blond mustache and a hook for a left hand as he struggled to haul in another net. Astrid ran over to help him. "King Stoick must be in a friendly-type mood."

Astrid frowned at Gobber in confusion. "King Stoick?" she repeated blankly.

"Why, ruler of the merpeople, lass," the man replied with a chuckle. "Thought every good Viking knew about him."

From behind her, Snotlout snorted derisively. "Merpeople," he said, shaking his black hair out of his eyes. "What a load of dragon dung!"

Gobber the Belch glared at him and brandished a fish in his hand toward the boy. "Merpeople are real!" he insisted. "And Stoick rules over them! I'm telling you, lad, down there in the depths of the ocean they live—!"

He broke off as the ship lurched with a sudden wave. He staggered and the fish slipped from his grasp, hitting Snotlout in the face as it tumbled back into the sea. "Hey!" Snotlout yelped and Astrid put a hand up to cover her smirk.

The fish swam away the moment it returned to the water, not pausing lest it get caught in another net. The last strains of the Vikings' song were muffled and grew fainter as it descended into the endless blue:

"_Heave ho_

_Heave ho_

_Heave ho_

_In mysterious fathoms below_"

The fish made its way down toward the seafloor, weaving this way and that. It passed by a large rock formation and hid for a moment, waiting for a Scauldron to pass by before moving on. It had already escaped becoming a meal once that day. It didn't want to push its luck.

The next creature it encountered wasn't a dragon, but the fish still skirted away from it warily. From the waist up, it had the body of a human. From the waist down, the silvery tail and fins of a fish. A mermaid.

"Come on, we're late!" the mermaid called to her companions as she swam down into a crevice in the rock below. Two young mermen followed her, and the three friends emerged a moment later into the kingdom of Hyacinth, realm of King Stoick the Vast.

The merpeople swam as fast as they could toward the gigantic castle that dominated the scene before them: a magnificent structure made up of carved stone, glass, and coral. Behind the palace was a large courtyard, which was filled to capacity by a huge crowd. The sound of cheering and raucous yelling was deafening, but even that was drowned out by the screeches of the dragons being ridden in a giant loop around the village immediately surrounding the castle. In the center of the courtyard was an elevated platform, atop which sat the Sea King on a great golden throne. Stoick the Vast, King of Hyacinth, was a massive merman with an impressive red beard that reached down to his waist, where his skin melted seamlessly into the silver-green scales of his tail. He wore a golden crown atop his head and carried a large silver hammer in his right hand. Despite the weapon's obvious weight, Stoick carried it aloft seemingly with ease.

The king laughed cheerfully as a large dragon swooped over his head, sending his hair fluttering and swaying all over the place. The beast was carrying a rider atop its back: a small, wiry girl with long blond hair and a flashy blue tail. The girl was beaming toothily as she urged her mount toward the baskets that had been set up on the far edge of the courtyard. "Good girl, Fireworm!" she praised as the dragon unclenched its talons, releasing a bewildered octopus and dropping it into her bin.

"Another point for Camicazi!" Stoick roared over the cheers of the crowd. "That's my girl! She is currently tied with Fishlegs, leading with fifteen points! Dogsbreath and Speedifist lag behind with twelve points each, Wartihog has six points, Clueless has none, and Hiccup…" Stoick paused, frowning. The very first bucket, marked with a black ribbon, stood empty. He glanced around but there was no sign of his son or the boy's dragon anywhere. He sighed. "…is nowhere to be found," he concluded, and he added under his breath, "So what else is new?"

Camicazi leaned low on the back of her Monstrous Nightmare and called over to a stout boy riding a Gronckle, "Come on, Fishlegs! Gotta do better than that if you want to win this race!"

Fishlegs slapped his rust-colored tail in irritation at the princess' teasing and said to his dragon, "Come on, Meatlug. We still have a chance to win this."

The dragon grumbled worriedly to her rider but loyally went off in search for another octopus to add to their basket. At that moment, however, Stoick motioned for one of the guards to blow into a horn, the long note audible even over the racket in the courtyard. Fishlegs' heart gave a bound. He knew what that meant.

So did Camicazi. "The black octopus!" she gasped. "Come on, Fireworm! It's time to end this!" The Nightmare swam a little faster, her rider scanning the rocks below for a glimpse of the elusive cephalopod. The black octopus was worth ten points. She needed to find it and claim it in order to win this race…

There! The octopus was clinging to the underside of a rock shelf for dear life, apparently trying to hide from the dragons it knew were searching for it. But it had forgotten in its haste to hide that its tentacles, wrapped around the rock in a tight hold, were visible from above.

"You're mine!" Camicazi chuckled, but her smile faded almost at once. Fishlegs had seen the octopus as well and was already reaching out for it. Before Camicazi could do anything more than snarl in frustration, the stout merman had seized one of the tentacles and yanked the resigned octopus into his arms.

"Yes!" he cried. "Come on, Meatlug! Let's get back to the baskets, quick!"

The Gronckle turned around and started swimming as fast as her stubby legs would allow. But unfortunately for her and Fishlegs, she was probably the slowest dragon of all of them. Fireworm had no problem catching up, and Camicazi, with the skill of a master burglar, leaned over and plucked the creature from her opponent's grasp. "Gothca!" she crowed as Fireworm streaked away, leaving a bewildered and disgruntled Fishlegs in her wake.

Camicazi scored, and Stoick bellowed, "Camicazi wins the race!" A great cheer went up from the crowd, everyone looking up at the blond mermaid as she glided overhead, doing a victory loop and punching the water with her fist happily.

So no one saw Stoick as he looked away from his triumphant daughter, his eyes returning to the empty basket with the black ribbon. His smile faded and the hammer in his hand glowed an angry blue.

"Hiccup, where in the name of Thor are you?"

…

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third peered excitedly at the ghostly wreck that lay before him. He wondered what had caused the ship to sink. A storm perhaps? Or maybe it had been involved in a fight with another boat? It was impossible to tell from looking at it: the wooden hull was rotted and cracked in several places, and the central mast was missing entirely. Still, it looked as though it might hold some interesting secrets, secrets that Hiccup wanted to discover.

He glanced over his shoulder, brushing his auburn hair out of his eyes with an automatic swipe of his hand. His bright emerald eyes landed on the black dragon drifting a few yards back. "Come on, Toothless," he called. "Let's get a little closer."

The Night Fury warbled and swam a little closer. Though a sky dragon, he (and indeed all dragons) could breathe underwater thanks to a set of gills situated behind his ears, but his swimming wasn't as graceful, fast, or agile as his flying. His wings were designed for air, not water. However, he joined his merman friend fairly quickly and crooned questioningly, looking in obvious doubt at the wreck.

"Of course I'm sure," Hiccup replied. "Let's take a look!"

With a flick of his green fins, he propelled himself toward the sunken mass, grinning excitedly. Toothless followed, his luminous green eyes alert and watchful for danger. He could smell another dragon not too far away and wanted to make sure no harm came to his friend. Hiccup either didn't notice or disregarded the Night Fury's unease, slipping over the edge of the vessel and scanning the deck for any treasures he could take.

His eyes fell immediately on what looked to him like some kind of shell. Or half of one anyway. It had a flat bottom and rounded sides and was open at the top. It was, in fact, a bowl, but Hiccup had never seen one before and had no clue of its purpose. "Whoa," he breathed, bending down to pick it up and studying it intently, a toothy grin spreading across his face. "Wow, look at this bud! Have you ever seen anything so wonderful in your entire life?!"

Toothless eyed the bowl quizzically and grumbled, clearly not impressed. "You're no fun," Hiccup remarked.

Toothless warbled, and even though Hiccup couldn't understand the dragon language, he got the general gist of the question and shrugged. "I don't know what it is, bud. But I bet Wodesfang will." And with that he shoved it into a bag he had slung over his shoulder, another item he'd discovered on his secret expeditions. It had the emblem of a black dragon on it, which reminded him of Toothless, and it was one of his most prized treasures.

Toothless sniffed the water and growled softly. That other dragon was getting close. Hiccup didn't hear him, his focus now on an item that looked a lot like the bowl, only it was adorned with a metal band around the rim and had two horns sticking out the sides. "Hmm," he mused as he picked up the Viking helmet. "I wonder what this one is…"

Toothless roared, and Hiccup finally looked over at him, alert. He knew that was a sound his dragon made only when there was a threat nearby. "What is it, Toothless?" he asked, looking worriedly about.

Toothless didn't have to answer. Hiccup suddenly knew exactly why the Night Fury was so on edge. There was another dragon swimming their way, a Thunderdrum. Its beady eyes were narrowed in hunger and its mouth was open, preparing to emit its powerful sonic roar.

Despite the fact that merpeople had made peace with the dragons that lived in both air and water, Hiccup felt his heart miss a beat. This was clearly a wild dragon, and wild dragons were, as the title suggested, unpredictable and dangerous. And right now, it clearly saw the young merman's fish tail as quite a tempting meal. Hiccup, knowing better than to try taming or training it while he was viewed as the main course, hurried over to where Toothless floated, growling up in warning at the newcomer. The great blue dragon didn't even slow in its approach. It roared, the sound echoing and reverberating in the otherwise silent waters. Hiccup brought his hands up to cover his ears as Toothless shot forward. Were they in the air, he'd have been able to fire a plasma blast that would surely have sent the other dragon fleeing in terror. But in the water, a dragon was unable to use any firepower.

That didn't stop him from using his teeth, however. Toothless latched his jaws on one of the Thunderdrum's feet, and the blue dragon immediately cut off its roar to shriek in pain. It lashed out with its long, ropy tail and struck Toothless in the face. The Night Fury let go with an aggravated growl and retaliated by tackling the bigger dragon, sending it down to the deck of the Viking ship below.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried, his voice lost to the crash of splintering wood and the angry roars of the two fighting dragons. He swam forward, peering anxiously over the side of the ship to see the Thunderdrum flat on its stomach with Toothless crouching over him, pinning him to the seafloor, teeth bared. The Night Fury roared loudly, and the defeated dragon squirmed, lowering its head submissively, apparently waiting to be torn apart by the victor's claws and teeth.

Toothless snorted, satisfied that the Thunderdrum wouldn't pose a threat anymore, and backed off. The other dragon swam away at once, as if afraid the Night Fury would change his mind and attack again. Toothless watched it depart and then turned back to Hiccup, his green eyes narrowed, silently scolding his friend.

"Thanks, bud," Hiccup said, swimming forward and scratching the dragon under the chin, something he knew Toothless loved. "I didn't even see him coming."

Toothless snorted again, and Hiccup added, "Yes, I know, I was reckless and should have been more attentive." He sighed. "But you know how I am."

The dragon rolled his eyes but seemed to be content to let it go. His pupils dilated and he crooned fondly, nudging his friend. Hiccup chuckled. "All right, bud. Let's go on up and see what Wodensfang has to say about what we've got this time." And with that, boy and dragon began swimming up toward the surface.

Wodensfang was a little dragon, a Terrible Terror to be precise, who had the unique distinction of being the only dragon to have mastered the Norse language, which both merpeople and the humans on the nearby island of Berk used. He was snoozing on the little outcropping of rock he had claimed as his nest, happily dreaming about the large meal of fish he hoped to find that evening, when he heard someone call his name. He woke with a snort, smoke trailing up from his nostrils, and looked around. His big yellow eyes brightened at once. "Hey, merman off the port bow!" he crowed, rising to his feet and scurrying to the edge of the rock, where Hiccup and Toothless had emerged. He tripped once over his own feet and went tumbling, making Hiccup chuckle and Toothless, who had minimal patience for the tiny dragon, snort in irritation. The clumsy Terror regained his footing almost at once. "Hiccup, how ya doing, kid?"

"I'm fine, Wodensfang," Hiccup replied, lifting the bag off his shoulder and depositing it on the rock. "Look what we found!"

"Human stuff, huh?" Wodensfang inquired, sniffing the bag curiously. "Well let me see…" He stuck his snout into the bag and pulled out the bowl with his mouth, his toothless gums clamped on the rim. Releasing it and looking down at it, he said, "Wow…this is special…this is very, very unusual…"

Hiccup barely suppressed an eye-roll. Wodensfang was notorious for talking to himself and totally forgetting that there were others around him. "What?" he asked, unable to contain his excitement. "What is it?"

Wodensfang, apparently remembering the merman's presence, looked up and announced, "It's…a dinglehopper!" He took the bowl's rim in his mouth again and flipped it up into the air so that it landed on his head like a hat. "Humans use these things as a way to protect their heads from the sun!" he explained. "You see, human heads are delicate, and the sun is hot enough to make it turn bright red, which makes them very unhappy…it looks bad, you understand? So they use these dinglehoppers to cover their noggins and keep them the right color."

"Wow," Hiccup sighed, totally in awe as Wodensfang flipped the bowl off his head and nudged it back over to the merman, who picked it up and studied it fondly. "A dinglehopper!" He put it back in his bag and pulled out the helmet. "What about this one?"

"Ah!" Wodensfang bent his head down and sniffed the item excitedly. "I love these little babies! This…" He puffed himself up importantly. "…is a banded, bulbous…snarfblat!"

"Ooh," Hiccup breathed, impressed, as Wodensfang did as he had with the bowl and flipped the helmet onto his head.

The dragon explained, "The snarfblat dates back to prehysterical times, when humans used to sit around and stare at each other all day." To demonstrate, he pushed his face up close to Hiccup's so that the merman was staring right into the Terror's bright, luminous eyes. He blinked, feeling slightly dizzy. A dragon's stare could be hypnotizing. "Got very boring," Wodensfang added. He drew back, and Hiccup shook his head slightly to clear it. The dragon didn't seem to notice the merman's discomfort. "So they invented this snarfblat to pass the time. It's a noisemaker, see?" He whipped his tail against the helmet, making it clang and vibrate on his head. "W-w-h-h-oooo-ooooaaa," he said tremulously, his head swaying dizzily. Hiccup clapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

"Yep," Wodensfang continued after shaking his head vigorously. "Humans use these things whenever they get bored. They are particularly popular at big social events like parties or gatherings…"

"Parties?" Hiccup repeated, his face suddenly going blank. "Gatherings?" Then he groaned and smacked his forehead with his palm. "The race! Oh my gods, my dad's gonna kill me! I forgot the race was today!"

Wodensfang didn't seem to notice Hiccup's sudden realization. "Maybe you could make a little planter out of it or something," he mused, looking down at the helmet he had tossed on the rock at his feet.

Hiccup snatched the helmet up and stuffed it into his bag. "I'm sorry, I've gotta go!" he said hurriedly, turning and swimming a short distance away from the rock. He paused and called back over his shoulder, "Thanks, Wodensfang!" before diving into the sea, Toothless following close behind.

"Anytime, pal," the Terror called to the empty ocean, waving one wing absentmindedly. "Anytime."

Once beneath the waves, Hiccup climbed atop Toothless' back, leaning down and saying in the dragon's ear, "Let's go home, bud. Maybe Dad won't be too mad this time…"

Toothless warbled and took off, swimming as fast as his feet and tail would allow. Hiccup held on to the dragon's shoulder blades, praying to every god he knew of that he could slip back into the kingdom without attracting unwanted attention.

He didn't know he was being watched.

…

Outside the borders of Stoick's kingdom, in a desolate wasteland, two creatures sat in the ribcage of a massive dragon skeleton. One had the upper body of a pale, thin woman with long white hair and horrible yellow eyes. Her teeth were half-rotten and crooked and her fingernails were long and sharp. She wore a spiral shell necklace that rested against her rather flat chest. From the waist down, her body morphed into that of an octopus, eight purple-black tentacles twisting and writhing along the seafloor. The other creature had the head and torso of a painfully thin young man with lank black hair and sharp, wary eyes. He was so skinny that his ribs showed plainly through his faintly-yellow skin. His lower half was the body of a green eel. Both of these creatures were staring down at a massive stone cauldron that sat in the middle of their home. An image shimmered above the mouth of the pot: a young merman, bag slung over one shoulder, riding atop the back of a black dragon, streaking off in the direction of Hyacinth.

The woman, Excellinor the Sea Witch, smiled coldly at the image. "Yes," she hissed, "hurry home, dear prince. We wouldn't want to miss the celebration of your little sister's win, now would we?" Her smile vanished and she laughed once derisively. "Celebration indeed! Bah! In my day, we had fantastical feasts when I lived in the palace…"

She sighed and looked across the cauldron at her son, Alvin the Treacherous. "And now look at me," she moaned. "Wasted away to practically nothing…banished and exiled and practically starving, while he and his flimsy fish-folk celebrate." She scowled and looked again at the image of Hiccup and Toothless. The prince and his dragon were now on the outer borders of the kingdom. The Sea Witch hummed thoughtfully. "Well, we'll give them something to celebrate soon enough, won't we Alvin?"

The young man across from her smiled darkly.

"Yes," Excellinor said, her smile returning. "We'll have to keep an extra close watch on this handsome little boy of his. He may be the key to Stoick's undoing…" She chuckled darkly and returned her attention to the image above the cauldron.

Yes…she could be patient. Their time would soon come…


	2. Chapter 2: Part of Your World

Chapter Two

Part of Your World

Hiccup paused just long enough to stash his bag in a clump of coral before he swam into the castle, trying to act nonchalant, as if he had been there the whole day and not gone where he had been forbidden to go. Toothless swam along behind him, offering both protection and comfort. Hiccup wasn't really sure which one he needed more at the moment.

"Hiccup!"

He flinched and turned to face the speaker. His younger sister Camicazi was swimming his way, arms crossed. "Hey Cami," he greeted, trying – and failing – to sound at ease.

Camicazi scowled. "Where were you?" she demanded. "You missed the race!"

"Who won?" Hiccup asked, hoping the question would distract her from her anger.

"Oh, I did of course," she replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Camicazi was not known for her humility. "But it wasn't any fun without my big brother there! You're the only one who's any real competition!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes but decided not to comment on his sister's words. Instead, he inquired nervously, "Is Dad angry?"

"What do you think?" said a deep, heavily accented voice from behind him.

Hiccup winced and turned slowly around. "Uh…hey, Dad," he said, smiling nervously.

Camicazi sniggered. "You're in for it now," she remarked before swimming away, leaving Hiccup and Stoick quite alone.

"Hiccup," Stoick broke the awkward silence, crossing his arms and glaring down at his son. "What am I going to do with you, young man?"

"Dad, I'm sorry, I just forgot! I—" Hiccup tried to explain, but Stoick spoke over him.

"Hiccup, you are my son, my heir. You are the prince of this kingdom. The people look to you as their future leader."

"I know, Dad," Hiccup interjected, "but—"

"And when they see you wandering off when you should be at certain functions, it looks bad," Stoick went on. "And it reflects badly on me as well."

"I'm sorry, I just—"

"You need to be more responsible, son. You need to understand your place and your duties and do what you're supposed to do. No more gallivanting off whenever the urge hits you, no more swimming with your dragon when you should be here at the palace, no more…no more of…this." He waved his hand vaguely at his son, who frowned.

"You just gestured to all of me," he remarked dryly.

Stoick ignored his son's comment and continued, "I know you're young and free-spirited and want to explore the sea, but you have duties and responsibilities that you have to see to first. Hiccup…" He placed one massive hand on his son's narrow shoulder. "…I'm just trying to prepare you for what's coming. In a few years you will be king, and you need to be ready."

"I know, Dad," Hiccup sighed wearily. He'd heard all this before. "I know. I said I was sorry, and I meant it. I didn't mean to miss the race, I just forgot, I swear!"

Stoick sighed, clearly trying to stay patient with his son. "Very well, then. Where were you, if I may ask?"

Hiccup blinked. "Uh…what?"

"Where were you?" Stoick repeated. "What was so important that it made you forget about the race? After all, you helped create the sport, I'd have thought it would have been the last thing to slip your mind. So what made you forget?"

"Um…" Hiccup struggled to come up with a suitable excuse. "Well, Toothless wanted to go for a swim, and I got…distracted by the, uh…the coral in the reefs. They're blooming." The excuse sounded lame even to his own ears.

Stoick's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Uh-huh," he said, and it was clear he didn't believe a word of it. Then he added, "You went to the surface again, didn't you?"

Knowing better than to try lying his way out of this lecture, Hiccup grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Nothing happened," he attempted to placate.

Stoick groaned and put a hand to his forehead. "Hiccup, how many times must we go through this? You could have been seen by one of those barbarians, by…by one of those humans!"

"Dad, they're not barbarians!" Hiccup flared up angrily.

"They're dangerous!" Stoick returned, putting his hands on Hiccup's shoulders. "Do you think I want to see you meet the same fate as your poor mother, snared by some fish-eater's hook?"

Hiccup drew back and snapped, "I'm sixteen years old, I'm not a child anymore—!"

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me, young man!" Stoick growled.

"But—"

"As long as you live under my ocean, you'll obey my rules!"

"But if you would just _listen_—!"

"Not another word!" Stoick thundered, turning away. "And I am never, _never _to hear of you going to the surface again! Is that clear?!"

Hiccup sagged in defeat for a moment. Then his eyes hardened. He squared his shoulders and glared at his father. "Crystal," he said coldly before turning around and swimming away at top speed, Toothless following loyally behind him.

Stoick snorted. "Teenagers," he muttered. "Think they know everything. Give them an inch and they swim all over you." His face softened after a moment, and he gazed at the spot where his son had disappeared. Regret was starting to creep into his chest. He and Hiccup so rarely saw eye-to-eye on anything, and it made normal conversations rather tense at the best of times. He knew this latest shouting match had done nothing to bring his son closer. He sighed. "Maybe I was too hard on him," he mused.

He heard a voice and looked around. Outside the palace walls he saw Fishlegs with his dragon Meatlug. "Don't worry, girl," he was saying soothingly. "You did great today. I couldn't be prouder of you." The Gronckle growled happily and licked her master's cheek.

Stoick's face lit up. An idea had just formed in his head. "Fishlegs!" he called out, swimming through an archway toward the startled young merman.

"Oh! Uh…hello, Your Majesty," Fishlegs stammered nervously, bowing.

"I have a favor to ask of you, lad," Stoick said, glancing around to make sure no one – especially Hiccup – could hear them. "I want you to keep a close eye on Hiccup for me."

"Me?!" Fishlegs squeaked in alarm.

"Who else?" Stoick asked. "You're his best friend! You can get close to him without him ever suspecting! Try to keep him out of trouble and report anything suspicious back to me at once, all right?"

What else could Fishlegs do but say, "Yes, Your Majesty"?

"Excellent," Stoick boomed, clapping Fishlegs on the back before swimming away, content that his plan would work. Fishlegs looked miserably at Meatlug.

"How do I get into these situations?" he asked the dragon, who merely rumbled in sympathy.

Fishlegs looked around and his eyes fell on Hiccup and Toothless, who were swimming away from the castle. He sighed. "Well, come on, girl. Might as well get started."

He climbed atop the Gronckle's back and followed the prince and the Night Fury at a safe distance. They paused at a clump of coral long enough for Hiccup to pull out a bag before they resumed swimming. Fishlegs frowned. "What is that boy up to?"

Staying far enough back to avoid detection, Fishlegs and Meatlug followed Hiccup and Toothless quite a distance away from the palace, finally stopping before a cave whose mouth was concealed by a heavy-looking stone. Hiccup paused and looked around, not seeing his pursuers, who were safely hidden behind an outcropping of rock. Then he signaled for Toothless to push the stone door aside, opening the cave. Hiccup slipped inside with the dragon close behind him, and the stone fell silently back into place.

Confused and curious, Fishlegs emerged from his hiding place and pushed the stone aside just enough for him to slip inside after the prince. "Stay here, girl," he whispered to Meatlug before swimming into the dark cavern, closing the door behind him. He turned around and gasped, his eyes going wide.

The cave's antechamber opened up into a vast grotto. The walls were lined with stone shelves that were overcrowded with foreign-looking items, all relics Hiccup had salvaged from shipwrecks: boots, articles of clothing, plates, spoons, spears, axes, maces, books, shields, spears, lanterns, wooden statuettes, scrolls of paper, all crammed together in every available space. The top of the cavern had a small opening, flooding the space in shimmering light that reflected off the metal items on the shelves. And on the floor of the cave, lying on a flat slab of stone, Hiccup was gazing sadly down at the helmet he'd found that morning, the item Wodensfang had called a snarfblat.

Hiccup sighed as he examined the helmet's details. He'd always been fascinated by the human world, ever since he was a child. He just didn't get why his father was so adamant about staying away from the surface. Oh sure, he knew humans could be dangerous. He knew his own mother had been killed by one. But surely not all humans were evil, right? It was like the dragons: there were a few that were vicious and untrainable, but most of them were kind and gentle creatures that just wanted a little respect. What if humans were the same way? After all, there were evil merpeople in the sea, Hiccup knew that. The Hyacinth prison was proof that not all merpeople were good and benevolent. So couldn't the same hold true for humans?

Hiccup had tried to tell his father this numerous times, but the result was always the same: the angry brush-off, the orders to stay away from the surface, and the stubborn refusal to listen.

Reclining beside his merman friend, Toothless crooned in concern. Hiccup looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Nah, I'm fine, bud," he said. "I just…" He sighed. "I wish I could make him understand." He looked back at the helmet and turned it over in his hands. "I just don't see things the way he does. I don't see how a world that makes such wonderful things could be so bad."

He paused for a moment, struggling to come up with the right words to express his feelings. So he did what was natural for the merpeople: he broke into song. This wasn't uncommon for his kind. Whenever their emotions became too strong for mere words, they turned to music to release their feelings. And Hiccup was gifted with one of the most beautiful singing voices on the seafloor. Hidden in the cave's entryway, Fishlegs listened in rapt silence as the prince began his song:

"_Look at this stuff_

_Isn't it neat?_

_Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?_

_Wouldn't you think I'm the one_

_The one who has everything?_"

Hiccup placed the helmet aside and looked around at the grotto, eyes roving over his collection with a hint of pride.

"_Look at this trove_

_Treasures untold_

_How many wonders can one cavern hold?_

_Looking around here you'd think_

_Sure, he's got everything_"

He swam over to one of the shelves, running his hands absently over some silver necklaces he'd found, bent down over a chest of jewels he'd had a hard time bringing back to the cave unnoticed. He smiled absently.

"_I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty_

_I've got whozits and whatzits galore_

_You want thingamabobs?_

_I've got twenty_"

His smile faded slowly. Lowering the lid of the chest, he looked up at the hole in the ceiling with an expression of purest longing.

"_But who cares?_

_No big deal_

_I want more_"

Fishlegs leaned in to listen as Hiccup's voice softened, became more wistful, so filled with emotion that he couldn't help but be moved.

"_I wanna be where the people are_

_I wanna see_

_Wanna see 'em dancing_

_Walking around on those…_"

He frowned and looked at Toothless. "_What d'you call 'em?_" Then he grinned and ran his fingers over the dragon's front paw."…_Oh…feet…_" He chuckled and Toothless warbled.

"_Flipping your fins you don't get too far_

_Legs are required for jumping, dancing_

_Strolling along down a…_"

He looked back to Toothless. "_What's that word again?_" Toothless crooned in answer, and Hiccup laughed."…_Street…_"

He swam in a small spiral, his auburn hair swirling about his face, his eyes directed toward the surface.

"_Up where they walk_

_Up where they run_

_Up where they stay all day in the sun_

_Wandering free_

_Wish I could be_

_Part of that world_"

Hiccup allowed himself to drift back down to the stone floor, lying sprawled on his back and stretching his arms as if in relaxation.

"_What would I give_

_If I could live_

_Out of these oceans?_

_What would I pay_

_To spend a day_

_Warm on the sand?_"

His smile faded and he sat up, frowning.

"_Betcha on land_

_They understand_

_Bet they don't reprimand their own sons_

_Bright and dreamin'_

_Sick of swimmin'_

_Ready to stand_"

He rose and swam up to one of the shelves, picking up a book, riffling through the pages and wishing fervently he could read the words written there.

"_And ready to know what the people know_

_Ask 'em my questions_

_And get some answers_"

He turned to where a lantern sat in a corner and reached out to touch it wonderingly.

"_What's a fire and why does it_

_What's the word? Burn?_"

His song reached its peak as he swam back up, stretching his hand through the hole in the ceiling as if he could touch the world above if he just reached far enough.

"_When's it my turn?_

_Wouldn't I love_

_Love to explore that shore above?_"

He broke off and withdrew his hand, drifting slowly back down to the floor, his eyes never leaving the small circle of light in the cavern roof. Toothless watched him, green eyes filled with sadness for his friend's obvious yearning.

"_Out of the sea_

_Wish I could be_

_Part of that world_"

His song finished, Hiccup sat upon the stone floor of the grotto, staring up at the surface so far above him. It was close, close enough for him to touch, but always too far for him to reach. And even though he loved his collection of trinkets, he knew they would never fully satisfy his curiosity and longing. They simply weren't enough.

They never would be.

His troubled thoughts were interrupted quite suddenly by a loud crash, and he jumped and whirled around. Fishlegs, trying to get a better look at the grotto, had accidently leaned on a spear resting against the wall, sending it toppling into a precariously-stacked pile of armor. The resulting noise was loud enough to be heard on the surface. Toothless jumped up and snarled, intent on defending his friend, not yet realizing who it was that had intruded. Hiccup, however, recognized the newcomer at once. "Fishlegs?!" he gasped.

The stout merman looked at Hiccup and then turned his head to look at the items cluttering the room. Shaking his head in wonder, he stammered, "Hiccup, what are you…how could you…what is all this?!"

Hiccup grinned sheepishly and glanced over at Toothless, who had relaxed his defensive stance. "It's, uh…it's just my…collection."

Fishlegs gaped at his friend. "Your collection?" he repeated. Such an ordinary word didn't belong in such a place as this. "Hiccup, if your father knew about this, he'd—"

"You're not going to tell him, are you?!" Hiccup yelped, swimming over to his friend, hands clasped in front of him, begging. "Please, Fishlegs, he'd never understand!"

Fishlegs took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Hiccup, you…you're under a lot of pressure down here." He took Hiccup's hand and tried to lead him out of the cavern. "Come on, we'll go back to the castle, and you can have something nice and warm to…"

Hiccup didn't hear the rest. He was distracted by the sudden darkness that had descended upon the cavern. Something was blocking the light from reaching down to the seafloor. He frowned. "What do you suppose…?"

He pulled his hand out of Fishlegs' and gestured for Toothless to remove the stone at the cave entrance. Once it was clear, he swam out and up toward the surface, ignoring Fishlegs' calls for him to return. His head emerged into the cool evening air and he wiped his bangs out of his face, staring in awe at the Viking ship drifting a few yards away. Its deck was ablaze with light, and judging from the sounds echoing off the water, the people aboard were celebrating.

Beside him, Toothless, Fishlegs, and Meatlug surfaced, but he paid them no mind. "Hiccup, what are you…" Fishlegs began, but then his eyes were drawn to the ship and he gasped, "Suffering scallops!"

Hiccup dove into the water and started swimming closer to the boat, not heeding Fishlegs' call of, "Hiccup! Hiccup, please come back!" He pulled up alongside the long, narrow hull of the ship and reached out, his fingers finding purchase on one of the shields lining the rail and hoisting himself up so that he could peer over the edge to observe the celebration. Vikings were talking, drinking, and laughing uproariously all around, moving this way and that, all smiling and clearly happy to be where they were. Hiccup watched them, wishing he had about eight more eyes so that he didn't miss anything.

He heard a screech from above and looked up, startled to see a blue Deadly Nadder perched on the mast. The dragon opened its wings and took off, swooping down low, its yellow eyes fixed on him. Remembering the Thunderdrum incident from earlier that day, Hiccup let go of the rail, dropping back into the ocean with a splash. Toothless joined him and rumbled questioningly, but Hiccup held up a hand to quiet him, raising his head cautiously from the water again.

The dragon was hovering directly above him. Their faces were a mere foot apart. And looking into the Nadder's eyes, Hiccup could see that it meant him no ill. In fact, it must have been happy to see him, for it stuck its forked tongue out and licked the merman's cheek in an affectionate greeting.

Hiccup grimaced but chuckled at the gesture, reaching up to stroke the dragon's nose, but Toothless, whether out of protectiveness or jealousy, emerged and snapped warningly. The Nadder rose out of reach with an apologetic squawk.

"Stormfly!"

Both the dragon and Hiccup looked back at the ship at the sound of the girl's voice. The Nadder squawked again and soared over to the rail, hovering in front of a young Viking woman. Hiccup's jaw dropped in awe as his eyes fell on her. She was stunningly beautiful. Her blond hair was tied back in a braid, though a few stray hairs framed her face. Her eyes were blue, sharp and perceptive yet gentle and warm. Her smile was enough to suck all the oxygen from the merman's lungs.

"Hey there, girl. What're you doing out there?" the girl was saying to the dragon. "Trying to catch some fish? I've got something better for you." She held out a hunk of meat that Hiccup didn't recognize. "Chicken. Your favorite."

Stormfly screeched happily as the girl tossed the chicken leg into the dragon's open mouth. She giggled and stroked the Nadder's nose. "Good girl."

Hiccup watched all this in silence, his mouth spread in a lopsided grin. He'd never seen anything so beautiful as this girl before, and nothing could possibly tear his gaze from her.

Well, almost nothing.

"Hey there, Hiccup!" came a loud voice from above, and Hiccup started, looking up as Wodensfang came swooping in from out of nowhere. "Quite a show, eh?"

"Shh!" Hiccup hissed, waving his arm at the little dragon. "Wodensfang, be quiet, they'll hear you!" He returned his attention to the party, relieved that no one seemed to have heard the Terror's arrival.

"Ooh, I gotcha, I gotcha!" Wodensfang breathed, swooping in low so that he hovered beside the merman prince. He peeked above the side of the ship. "We're being intrepidatious." Hiccup was just about to ask if that was really a word when the dragon raised his voice and shouted, "We're out to discover—"

Hiccup seized Wodensfang and dove into the sea, and not a moment too soon. A couple of half-drunk Vikings looked around, frowning, certain that they'd heard someone yell. They peered over the edge, scanning the ocean with their beady eyes and vaguely blurry vision before they shrugged and returned to the party.

Below, hidden by the darkness of the water, Hiccup released Wodensfang and said, "You know, 'be quiet' usually doesn't mean shouting at the top of your lungs."

"Heh heh," the dragon chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and returned to the surface. He didn't hoist himself back up the ship's side but instead chose to watch from the ocean, where he could slip out of sight if he had to. Besides, the boat sat rather low in the water, so he could still see what was going on aboard. His eyes returned to the Viking girl with the Deadly Nadder, Stormfly. "I've never a human this close before," he remarked to Wodensfang as the Terror resurfaced beside him. He sighed. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"

The dragon looked at Hiccup and followed his gaze to the girl, and he frowned. "Why would you say that?" he asked, sounding bewildered. "I mean, look at her! Her eyes are fixed so that they look in the same direction all the time! And they're both the same color too! Pft! No variety!"

Hiccup decided not to mention that his own eyes couldn't move independently of each other and were both the exact same shade of green. He merely shook his head and continued to gaze at the girl until a large man with a blond mustache called for silence, waving his hook-hand above his head.

"Hush up, you lot!" Gobber the Belch bellowed, and the rumble of noise slowly died down. "It is now my honor to present our own Astrid Hofferson with her birthday present!"

There was a murmur of excitement as two men carried a large object concealed by a purple sheet of fabric into the open. Astrid, the girl with the Nadder, looked at the present and then punched Gobber good-naturedly on the arm. Gobber, despite the muscle coating his bicep, flinched. "Gobber, you shouldn't have!"

"I know," Gobber muttered, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him, but he was grinning fondly. "Happy birthday, Astrid."

The men whipped the sheet off the object, revealing a round shield with a portrait painted on its wooden surface. It was a perfect likeness of Astrid, who blinked and stared at it in shock for a moment as everyone around her ooh-ed appreciatively. Even Hiccup gasped in wonder.

Astrid was silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts. The painting was very good, even she had to admit it, but there was something about it that she didn't like. It depicted her in rich clothes, the clothes of a chieftainess, wearing a demure smile. She looked beautiful, but…but it wasn't her. She wasn't even carrying her axe in the portrait, for Thor's sake!

But she hitched a smile onto her face and said, "Wow, Gobber, it, uh…it's…it's really something."

It was the best she could do, but it seemed to please Gobber, who beamed and said, "Had Bucket do it 'specially for you, lass," gesturing to a tall man with a metal bucket on his head, smiling absently at no one.

Astrid smiled too. She knew Gobber meant well. He'd been looking after her ever since her parents, the chief of Berk and his wife, had passed away three years ago, and she looked to him as a sort of honorary uncle. Perhaps the painting didn't exactly match her view of herself, but the fact he'd thought enough of her to have Bucket paint her for her birthday was touching.

Gobber scratched an itch with his hook and added airily, "Of course I had hoped it would be a wedding present, but…"

Astrid's smile slipped and she groaned, "Oh Gobber, not this again." She walked to the side of the ship and looked out at the sea. Hiccup ducked down so that only his eyes and ears were exposed. "You're not still sore because I didn't fall for Thuggory the Meathead, are you?"

This was the one thing she hated about being Berk's heir to the chiefhood. She was expected to marry. Berk, like all Viking villages, was a male-dominated society, and in order for her to take her rightful place as leader, she had to be married. And even then, the actual title of chief – and all the power that went with it – would go to her husband. It was because of this that she was so wary of marriage. She wanted to be sure she didn't marry someone who was only interested in the power or wealth that came with being chief. In fact, though she'd never admit it to anyone for fear of thinking she was going soft, she wanted to marry someone she loved.

The trouble was she hadn't fallen in love with anyone.

Gobber, sensing he'd touched on a sore subject, sighed. "Astrid, it isn't me alone. The entire village wants to see you happily settled down with the right man."

Astrid kept her gaze on the water. Her eyes moved right over the spot where Hiccup sat listening, but she didn't see him. "He's out there somewhere," she replied. "I just…haven't found him yet."

Hiccup felt his heart flutter when her eyes roved over him again, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"Well, perhaps you haven't been looking hard enough," Gobber said, half-joking.

Astrid finally looked back at her guardian. "Believe me, Gobber, when I find him, I'll know. Without a doubt. It'll just…bam!" She slammed her fist on the rail for emphasis. "Hit me! Like lightning…"

The word had barely left her mouth when the sky lit up and thunder cracked. Hiccup gave a start of surprise. He'd been so intent on Astrid that he hadn't realized that the sky had clouded over and the water had become rough. Clearly the people on the ship hadn't noticed the incoming storm either. The deck suddenly became a bustle of activity with Vikings running to and fro, taking up oars and raising the sail so that it wouldn't tear in the wind. They started yelling to each other, but Hiccup couldn't hear their words over the booms of thunder or the sound of rain pelting the water around him. He held up his hands, trying to protect his face from the sudden onslaught.

Wodensfang rose out of the water, perhaps thinking he could use his wings to shield his merman friend. But the moment the wind hit him, it snatched him away and carried him off. "Whoa!" he yelled, flapping wildly in an attempt to regain control. "The wind's all of a sudden on the move here!" Then the gale overpowered him and, with a screech of, "HIIIICCUUUUP!" he vanished into the night.

Hiccup barely had time to worry for the tiny Terror, for the Viking ship was being tossed about like the child's toy. He ducked beneath the surface as the hull came frighteningly close to his head, swimming a few feet away before rising again. Beside him, Toothless roared, and from somewhere below them Fishlegs was calling to him, urging the prince to return to the castle where they were safe. Hiccup ignored them. He had to make sure the ship returned to Berk. He had to make sure Astrid would be okay…

Waves slammed the side of the ship, threatening to capsize it. One or two men were tossed overboard and clung to barrels floating nearby for dear life. The vessel rose up on the crest of a wave, and for a moment it was an awesome sight, framed against the stormy night sky, illuminated by a flash of lightning. And then the wave came crashing down, and the boat came with it. There was a tremendous _crack_, and the hull split apart, throwing its passengers into the raging sea. Hiccup gasped and swam as close as he dared, looking around for the girl he'd suddenly become so fond of.

There! She was treading water a short distance away. Her dragon Stormfly was hovering above her, squawking fearfully. "No, girl!" Hiccup heard Astrid gasp. She pointed to a spot some ten feet away. "Go save Gobber! Go!"

Stormfly obeyed reluctantly and left her mistress, who didn't see the large chunk of wood that was barreling her way, riding on a swell. The board collided with the girl's head, and she grunted in pain before slipping beneath the surface, unconscious. "No!" Hiccup cried, and he dove. Astrid was slowly sinking into the abyss, her eyes closed and her face relaxed, her arms raised above her head.

Hiccup seized one of those arms and pulled her back up to the surface, making sure her nose and mouth were above the water. He looked around, wondering what he should do. Then he nodded resolutely. He would take her back to Berk. He knew where the island was: he had seen it from a distance on one of his many trips to the surface. She would be safe there.

"Toothless, help me!" Hiccup gasped, and the dragon rumbled, drawing up alongside him and allowing him to drape the girl's unconscious body across his back. Then they both set out for shore.

Dawn was starting to break by the time they reached land. Toothless gently deposited Astrid, still out cold, onto the sand and drew back as Hiccup pulled himself from the water, hovering uncertainly beside her. The storm had abated and a pink glow was starting to appear in the sky toward the east. Hiccup paused for a moment to catch his breath, brushing his hair out of his eyes, and then peered anxiously down at the girl he'd saved, barely noticing that Wodensfang had rejoined them.

"Is she…dead?" he wondered aloud.

Wodensfang sniffed Astrid for a moment and looked up at the merman. "It's hard to say," he said. He scurried to her feet as Hiccup watched nervously. One of her boots had fallen off at some point in the night, and Wodensfang pressed his head to her bare foot, apparently listening. His face fell. "Oh…I…I can't make out a heartbeat," he moaned.

Hiccup's felt his heart clench as he turned to look at Astrid's body, noticing how slender she was, how her hair was tied in a braid that had come halfway unraveled, how her chest was slowly rising and falling…

He gasped in realization. "No look! She's breathing." He gently reached up and brushed her wet bangs out of her face. "She's so…beautiful…"

Words failed him for a moment, and then, his hand cupping her cheek, fingers just barely brushing her skin, he started to sing quietly.

"_What would I give_

_To live where you are?_

_What would I pay_

_To stay here beside you?_

_What would I do to see you_

_Smiling at me?_"

Behind him, Fishlegs rose out of the water, out of breath from following Hiccup all night long, Meatlug right beside him. His eyes fell on the scene of the prince lying next to an unconscious human girl, singing a song of endless longing. His jaw dropped in shock, and Wodensfang, sniggering quietly, reached up with one talon and closed it again. Hiccup noticed none of this. He was in his own world where the only living beings in existence were himself and the girl beside him. He continued to sing as the sun finally peeked above the horizon, bathing them all in golden light.

"_Where would we walk?_

_Where would we run?_

_If we could stay all day in the sun?_

_Just you and me_

_And I could be_

_Part of your world_"

Astrid stirred and her eyes opened blearily. She caught the barest image of a young man's face framed in the morning sunlight, and in that moment he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

Hiccup smiled down at Astrid as she slowly woke. He wanted to talk to her, though he had no idea what to say. But he was totally struck dumb by the sight of her eyes. He hadn't been close enough the previous night to fully appreciate just how stunning they were, blue as sapphires and just as bright…

His wandering thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a familiar screech, followed immediately by someone calling, "Astrid?!"

Hiccup jerked back in sudden fear, his head whipping around to see Astrid's Deadly Nadder running toward him. He wasn't afraid of the dragon, but he'd recognized the voice he'd heard as Gobber's, and some instinct for self-preservation told him that he must not be seen by other humans. Without a second thought he dove back into the water, swimming away as Astrid slowly sat up, a hand to her head, wincing as Stormfly licked her face.

"Astrid!" Gobber rounded the bend and came jogging forward, looking relieved. Snotlout and two other teens, a twin brother and sister with long blond hair, followed behind him. "You really know how to scare the living daylights out of me, lass!"

He helped the girl to her feet, but she didn't even look at him. Her gaze was turned out toward the ocean. "A…a boy…rescued me…he was…singing…" A smile turned the corners of her mouth as she remembered the song her rescuer had sung to her. She knew she'd be able to recall each and every note with perfect clarity for a long time. "He had…the most beautiful voice…"

She took a step and wavered, but Gobber caught her before she could fall. He opened his mouth to speak, but Snotlout snorted and said, "I think you must have swallowed a bit too much seawater…ow!" Astrid punched him on the arm. Her weakness and disorientation had not affected her aim or power.

Gobber chuckled. "Come on, lass. Let's get you home."

Astrid didn't say anything. She merely cast one last glance at the sea before nodding and turning away, allowing Gobber to lead her back up the hill toward the village.

Unseen by the humans on shore, Hiccup was watching, hidden behind a rock that jutted up from the sea. Behind him, Toothless crooned softly, and Wodensfang, Fishlegs, and Meatlug exchanged bewildered looks.

"We've just got to forget this whole thing ever happened," Fishlegs said at last. "The Sea King will never know. You won't tell him." He looked at Meatlug, who rumbled her agreement, and at Toothless, who merely cocked his head. "I won't tell him. I will stay in one piece."

Hiccup heard none of this. He continued to gaze out at Berk's shore even though Astrid and the others had long since disappeared. A happy bubble was swelling in his chest. He wasn't sure what it was yet, but he knew it had to be good. He lifted himself onto the top shelf of the rock and sang:

"_I don't know when_

_I don't know how_

_But I know something's starting right now_

_Watch and you'll see_

_Someday I'll be_

_Part of your world_"

On the last word, a wave broke over the rock beneath him, punctuating the song's final note with a cymbal-like crash. His voice carried all the way to the island, where Stormfly, soaring in the air above her mistress and her escorts, heard and squawked a greeting to him. The dragon then flew away, leaving Hiccup to stare longingly at the empty beach.

…

Excellinor cackled with glee as she watched Hiccup sing to Astrid from atop the rock. The image hovering above her cauldron was wavy and not too clear at times, but his voice was distinct, and the emotions fuelling his song rang vibrantly in her ears. The Sea Witch pulled away from the cauldron, still laughing. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no," she chuckled. "I can't stand it. It's too easy! The child is in love with a human! And not just any human…a Viking!" She dissolved into laughter, echoed by her son Alvin. "Oh, Dad will just _love _that!"

Excellinor calmed her mirth long enough to watch her cauldron as Hiccup slipped back into the sea, swimming as fast as his fins could carry him back to the castle, no doubt hoping he could slip in without his father ever knowing he was gone. Her mouth twisted into an evil grin as her plan began to take firmer shape.

"King Stoick's headstrong, lovesick boy would make a charming addition to my little garden…"

As she spoke, her eyes roved over the floor beneath her, where hundreds of shrunken, shriveled polyps gazed balefully up at her. They cowered back from her as her shadow descended upon them, cringing away as her laughter echoed in the otherwise silent ocean.

**A/N: Wow, that one turned out a bit longer than I thought it would. Anyway, hope you're enjoying it! **


	3. Chapter 3: Under the Sea

Chapter Three

Under the Sea

King Stoick swam through the halls of his castle, brow furrowed. "Where could that boy be?" he mused. He hadn't seen Hiccup at all that day.

He rounded a corner and nearly collided with his daughter. "Oh, Camicazi," he said. "Have you seen Hiccup today?"

The blond mermaid shook her head. "No, Daddy, I haven't. Have you checked his bedroom?"

"I was just on my way there," Stoick replied, and without another word they both swam to the end of the corridor, where a single doorway was carved in the stone wall, shielded by a screen of seaweed. "Hiccup?" Stoick called. "Are you in there?"

He peeked inside and blinked in surprise. Hiccup was in bed, fast asleep, a small smile curving his mouth. Toothless lay beside him, his head resting on the merman's stomach.

"What the…Hiccup! Wake up!" Stoick swam into the room and shook the boy's shoulder. Hiccup stirred, opening his eyes blearily.

"Oh…good morning, Dad," he said with a yawn and a warm smile.

"Morning?" Stoick repeated sternly. "It's after noon, son."

"Is it really?" Hiccup's eyes widened for a moment, but his smile never faded. "Oops. I guess I overslept a bit." He rose, jostling Toothless awake, and they both swam past the king toward the door, Hiccup humming under his breath as they went. Stoick could only stare after them, confused.

Hiccup brushed aside the seaweed curtain and paused upon seeing his sister on the other side. "Oh! Hello, Cami," he greeted, and then he continued on down the hall, resuming his song. Toothless trailed loyally behind him.

"Wow," Camicazi remarked. "He's got it bad."

"What?" Stoick asked, emerging from his son's bedroom and gazing after Hiccup, frowning. "What has he got?"

"Isn't it obvious, Daddy?" Camicazi asked, crossing her arms and grinning. "Hiccup's in love."

The concept rendered Stoick speechless for a moment. Then, slowly, a smile began to twitch at the corners of his lips. "Hiccup? In love?" he marveled. This was good news…very good news…

…

"Okay, so far, so good," Fishlegs muttered, pacing nervously back and forth behind a large rock formation on the seafloor. Meatlug floated nearby, watching him worriedly. "I don't think the king knows." He paused and looked at his dragon, biting his nails. "But it won't be easy keeping something like this a secret for long!"

Hiccup was reclining on the rock a few feet above where his friend was fighting to keep his panic at bay. He wasn't listening to Fishlegs' worried ranting, but instead merely gazing up at the surface so far above. He frowned. "Do you think she remembers me?" he asked Fishlegs, who looked up at the sound of the prince's voice. "Do you think she even knows I exist?" Then he sighed sadly. "No, of course not." He lifted his tail and studied the silver-green scales that covered it, shimmering in the light filtering down from above. "I'm a merman, and every human knows that merpeople don't exist." He huffed and lowered his tail again. Then after a moment he continued thoughtfully, "But if merpeople don't exist, then I don't exist. And if I don't exist, then these feelings I have don't exist. And if these feelings don't exist, then—"

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs interrupted, swimming up to where his friend lay. "Stop talking crazy!"

Hiccup sat up and said, "I have to see her again, Fishlegs." Then his face brightened. "Yeah! I could! Tonight! Wodensfang can find out where she lives!"

He rose up and started swimming in an erratic circle as he formulated a plan. "Hiccup, please!" Fishlegs gasped, reaching up to grab the prince's tailfin in an attempt to slow him down. "Get your head out of the clouds and back in the water where it belongs!"

Hiccup ignored him, pulling almost unconsciously out of his friend's grip. "I'll swim up to their village, and…and Toothless can splash around and get their attention, and while they're distracted I can—"

"Down here is your home!" Fishlegs said exasperatedly, swimming up so that he blocked Hiccup's path. The prince jerked to a stop, startled, and Fishlegs seized his chance to say, "Hiccup, listen to me. The human world…it's a mess! Life under the sea is better than anything they've got up there!"

He motioned for Hiccup to sit back down on the rock, and he did so, brushing his hair back purely out of habit. He frowned as Fishlegs took a deep breath. He knew what was about to happen. He'd done it himself often enough to know what it looked like when a merman was about to sing. "Oh no, Fishlegs please don't—"

But Fishlegs opened his mouth, and an upbeat tune flowed from his lips.

"_The seaweed is always greener_

_In somebody else's lake_

_You dream about going up there_

_But that is a big mistake_

_Just look at the world around you_

_Right here on the ocean floor_

_Such wonderful things surround you_

_What more are you looking for?_"

A couple of baby Thunderdrums swam by, engaged in a game of what might have been Tag. Hiccup couldn't help but grin at their antics, and Fishlegs, perhaps mistaking this for a sign that Hiccup was listening, dove into the chorus with gusto.

"_Under the sea_

_Under the sea_

_Hiccup it's better_

_Down where it's wetter_

_Take it from me_

_Up on the shore they work all day_

_Out in the sun they slave away_

_While we're devoting_

_Full time to floating_

_Under the sea_"

Hiccup sighed wearily as Fishlegs swam over to Meatlug, who growled happily, warbling in tune to her master's music. Fishlegs found some clams and slapped his palms on their shells, producing a drumbeat.

"_Down here all the fish are happy_

_As off through the waves they roll_

_The fish on the land aren't happy_

_They're sad 'cause they're in their bowl_

_But fish in the bowl is lucky_

_They're in for a worser fate_

Hiccup frowned. "Worser?" he repeated, but Fishlegs didn't miss a beat and kept singing.

"_One day when the boss gets hungry…_"

A fish swimming by supplied the next line:

"_Guess who's gon' be on the plate_"

"Oh no!" Fishlegs laughed, and then he continued. As he sang, a pack of nanodragons swam by, swirling around Hiccup and making him chuckle. And Fishlegs, seeing Hiccup smiling and laughing, continued singing, hoping he was finally getting through to his friend.

"_Under the sea_

_Under the sea_

_Nobody beats us_

_Fries us and eats us_

_In fricassee_

_We're what the land folks love to cook_

_Under the sea we're off the hook_

_We've got no troubles_

_Life is the bubbles_

_Under the sea_"

Hiccup sighed and shrugged. He had to admit, the song was rather catchy. And as fish swimming nearby heard it, they paused and contributed either their voices or their bodies as musical instruments, adding richness and depth to Fishlegs' melody. Hiccup couldn't quite help bobbing his head to the beat as the song continued.

"_Under the sea_

_Since life is sweet here_

_We've got the beat here_

_Naturally_

_Even the sturgeon and the ray_

_They get the urge and start to play_

_We've got the spirit_

_You've got to hear it_

_Under the sea_"

Fishlegs took a quick glance around at the crowd of marine life that had gathered over the course of his song. Grinning, he recited:

"_The newt plays the flute_

_The carp plays the harp_

_The plaice play the bass_

_And they're sounding sharp_

_The bass plays the brass_

_The chub plays the tub_

_The fluke is the duke of soul_

The fluke punctuated this with, "Yeah," and Hiccup had to stifle his laughter.

"_The ray he can play_

_The ling's on the strings_

_The trout's rockin' out_

_The blackfish she sings_

_The smelt and the sprat_

_They know where it's at_

_And oh that blowfish blows_"

As the impromptu band carried on through an instrumental portion of the song, Hiccup heard a familiar roar and looked around. "Hey there, Toothless!" he said as his dragon friend approached, looking around bemusedly at the party around him. The Night Fury warbled earnestly, motioning with his head. Hiccup frowned. "What is it, bud?" Toothless warbled again, more insistently. "Okay, I'm coming." He rose off the rock, hesitated, and turned to Fishlegs. He tried twice to get his friend's attention, but the merman was by now too lost in his song to take any notice. Hiccup, chuckling, shrugged and gave up. He turned around and followed Toothless away from the band.

Fishlegs didn't see Hiccup depart. As the instrumental segment drew to a close, he belted out the final chorus of the song.

"_Under the sea_

_Under the sea_

_When the sardine_

_Begins the beguine_

_It's music to me_

_What do they got? A lot of sand_

_We've got a hot crustacean band_

_Each little clam here_

_Knows how to jam here_

_Under the sea_

_Each little slug here_

_Cutting a rug here_

_Under the sea_

_Each little snail here_

_Knows how to wail here_

_That's why it's hotter_

_Under the water_

_Yeah we're in luck here_

_Down in the muck here_

_Under the sea_"

The song ended on one final beat, and Fishlegs gestured with his hands toward the rock where Hiccup had been sitting, clearly hoping he'd convinced his friend to stop thinking about the human world and…

The prince was gone.

"Hiccup?" Fishlegs looked around. Hiccup was nowhere in sight. The fish that had been backing him up were swimming away now that the song was done, leaving Fishlegs and Meatlug quite alone. He groaned and said to his dragon, "Somebody's got to nail that boy's fins to the floor." Meatlug crooned in agreement.

"Hey Fishlegs!"

He looked up to see Camicazi swimming his way, her long hair billowing out behind her. She paused as she neared them and said, "I have a message from my father."

"The Sea King?" Fishlegs said nervously.

"Who else would I be talking about?" Camicazi asked, and without waiting for an answer went on, "He wants to see you right away. Something about Hiccup."

Fishlegs' jaw dropped open in horror, but she didn't notice. She was already swimming away. Fishlegs turned to Meatlug and squeaked out, "He knows!"

…

Stoick was feeling happier than he had in a long, long time.

So his son Hiccup was in love, huh? He smiled and fidgeted absently with his hammer. There had been a time not too long ago when he'd feared his son would never marry. He'd always been absolutely hopeless around mermaids, shy and stuttering and blushing the shade of a crab's shell whenever one spoke to him. He couldn't dance, which was unusual for a merman, and even though his singing voice was second to none, he could never get up the nerve to sing when anyone was listening, performing in front of others only whenever he had no choice.

But now…now it seemed as though all Stoick's worrying that his son was never going to marry and provide him with grandchildren was for nothing. And he couldn't be happier.

There was just one little problem…

"Hmm, let's see now," he mused, still gazing at his hammer. "Who could the lucky mermaid be…?"

He heard a small sound, like the clearing of a throat, and looked up to see Fishlegs and Meatlug hovering uncertainly at the entrance to the throne room. Stoick straightened at once and called, "Oh, um…come in, Fishlegs."

Fishlegs took a deep breath and told himself, "I mustn't overreact. I must remain calm." He swam into the room and stopped before the king's throne, bowing. Any attempt at concealing his fear was dashed almost at once. "_Yes?_" he squeaked out in a voice that was five octaves higher than usual. He cleared his throat, flushing, and tried again, "Yes, Your Majesty?"

Stoick either didn't notice Fishlegs' obvious discomfort or chose to ignore it. "I'm concerned about Hiccup," he said, trying to keep his voice neutral, fixing his gaze on his hammer again. "Have you noticed he's been acting peculiar lately?"

"P-peculiar?" Fishlegs repeated in a failed attempt to sound off-hand.

"You know, swimming around in a daze, daydreaming, singing to himself…" Stoick looked down at the stout merman, frowning. "You haven't noticed?"

Fishlegs floundered for a moment in desperation, not having a clue what to tell the king. "Oh…well…I…"

"Fishlegs, I know you've been keeping something from me," Stoick interrupted, leaning forward. He meant the gesture to seem light, conspiratorial, but Fishlegs saw it as intense and vaguely menacing. He gulped.

"K-keeping…something?" Oh Thor, how was he going to get out of this?

"About Hiccup?" Stoick prodded.

Fishlegs fought to keep himself from trembling. "Hiccup?" he squeaked.

"In love?" Stoick leaned in closer, inadvertently bringing the hammer up to Fishlegs' eyelevel. And it was this little motion that made Fishlegs finally crack.

"I tried to stop him, sire!" he cried. "He wouldn't listen! I told him to stay away from humans, they are bad, they are trouble, they—"

He didn't get any farther. The moment the word "humans" escaped his lips, Stoick's smile vanished and his hammer glowed a threatening shade of electric blue. He rose from his throne and bellowed, "Humans? _What about humans?!_"

Too late, Fishlegs realized his mistake. He smiled toothily and tried to backpedal. "Humans?" he laughed, but his voice was too high-pitched to sound natural. He began to back away, hoping he'd be able to escape and tip Hiccup off before his father found him. "Who said anything about…"

He trailed off with a whimper. Stoick was looking murderous. He knew without having to be told that he wasn't getting out of this one…

**A/N: I'm sorry. Correcting the grammar of "Under the Sea" pretty much sucks all the charm from the song. But I had to do it to keep Fishlegs in character. **

**Anyway, hope you're enjoying it! **


	4. Chapter 4: Poor Unfortunate Souls

Chapter Four

Poor Unfortunate Souls

"Toothless, I wish you could just tell me what this is all about," Hiccup grumbled as the Night Fury led the merman prince up to the entrance of his secret grotto.

The dragon crooned, flashing his gummy smile at his friend as he pushed the heavy stone aside. Hiccup swam through the opening and paused, waiting for Toothless to rejoin him. When he had, he started toward the archway that opened up into the cavern, but to his surprise, Toothless blocked him, holding out one wing to prevent him from moving forward. "Wha…?" Hiccup frowned and crossed his arms. "Toothless, you know I'm not a big fan of surprises."

Toothless let out a sound that Hiccup associated with laughter and he couldn't help but grin. "All right, you useless reptile. What are you…"

The words died on his lips as Toothless lowered his wing, revealing the cave. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But Hiccup's eyes were drawn almost at once to the oddity in the room, the one item that was out of place because he hadn't brought it in here. It was a painting, the portrait of a young woman with blond hair. The same painting he'd seen last night aboard the Viking ship. The portrait of Astrid Hofferson.

"Oh Toothless…" Hiccup managed to breathe after a moment. Then he laughed and hugged his dragon around the neck. "Toothless, you're the best!" He swam forward to examine the painting up close. "It looks just like her," he marveled. "They even got her eyes right!" He paused, running a hand across the wooden surface of the shield. Then he giggled and bowed. "May I have this dance, milady?" he asked the portrait, and even though it didn't answer him, he spun around in a one-sided, rather clumsy dance. He laughed giddily, not even noticing when Toothless, catching a scent in the water, looked around and started growling.

Hiccup stopped dancing and turned to face his dragon, still grinning. "Toothless, this is…" He broke off and his smile vanished as his eyes landed on a large, powerful merman. He gasped and shrank back in sudden fear. "Dad!"

Stoick the Vast swam out of the shadows of the antechamber and into the cavern, eyes flitting over the trinkets his son had gathered and scowling with barely-concealed fury. Behind him, Fishlegs cowered next to Meatlug, refusing to look Hiccup in the eye.

"I consider myself a reasonable merman," Stoick said, obviously fighting to keep his voice level. "I set certain rules and I expect those rules to be obeyed."

"But Dad I—" Hiccup began, but Stoick cut him off.

"Is it true you rescued a human from drowning?" he demanded.

Hiccup glanced over at Fishlegs, who was suddenly very interested in some sand clinging to Meatlug's scales. Returning his gaze to Stoick, Hiccup tried to explain, "Dad I had to—"

"Contact between the human world and the merworld is strictly forbidden! Hiccup, you know that! Everyone knows that!" Stoick's voice was rising in spite of his efforts to stay calm. His hammer was starting to glow, never a good sign.

"She would have died!" Hiccup protested.

"One less human to worry about!" Stoick thundered.

Hiccup squared his shoulders and said angrily, "You don't even know her!"

"Know her?" Stoick repeated incredulously. "I don't have to know her. They're all the same! Spineless, savage, harpooning fish-eaters, incapable of any feeling—"

"Dad I love her!" Hiccup blurted, and then he gasped and drew back in sudden fear. Fishlegs inhaled sharply, and even Toothless, who whined and backed away from the two mermen, seemed to realize that this was the wrong thing to say.

Stoick's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "No," he breathed in disbelief. Then his eyes narrowed. "Have you lost your senses completely? She's a human, you're a merman!"

Hiccup scowled at his father and retorted, "I don't care!"

"So help me, Hiccup, I'm going to get through to you!" Stoick growled, and Hiccup flinched as the hammer's glow intensified. "And if this is the only way, _so be it!_"

Without another word he flung the hammer around. A bolt of blue light shot from the head and hit a pair of boots sitting on a shelf. They disintegrated at once, leaving not a trace of leather behind. Hiccup gasped and cried out, "Dad, no!" but Stoick ignored him, turning the hammer on a collection of spoons and ladles, smashing them to bits. A pile of clothes were next, followed by some books and weapons. "No, please!" Hiccup yelled, watching in terror and dismay as one by one his treasures were destroyed. The bowl and helmet he'd found the day before were shattered, the bag with the dragon emblem on it ripped to pieces. "Dad, stop it!" Hiccup swam forward, hoping to physically stop his father from obliterating anything more. He realized too late that he had just exposed the painting of Astrid to the king's wrath.

Stoick's eyes fell on the portrait and his eyes darkened. He raised the hammer.

"Dad, NO!"

A jet of blue light struck the shield, and it exploded into a thousand shards of colored wood, leaving nothing but charred remains and a scorch mark staining the stone on which it had once stood. Hiccup stared at the remnants of his newfound treasure for a long moment, his mouth hanging open in shock. Then he drifted down, sitting on the slab of rock on the floor, his head down. Stoick, his rage spent, softened a bit and reached out. He didn't quite know why; perhaps to comfort his son? But whatever his intent, the moment his fingers touched Hiccup's shoulder, the prince jerked away with a wordless snarl. Stoick, deciding Hiccup needed some time to himself, pulled his hand back and turned, exiting the cave without another word.

Fishlegs watched the king depart, waiting until he was gone before emerging into the cavern. "Hiccup, I—"

"You!" Hiccup growled, turning to face his friend with eyes hardened in fury. "How could you?! Why did you tell him?! I trusted you!" Fishlegs opened his mouth to speak but Hiccup cut him off before he could get a word out. "Get out of here, you…you traitor!"

If Fishlegs had considered staying and trying to talk to Hiccup, those thoughts were immediately squashed when Toothless, sensing his friend's distress and realizing the stout merman had something to do with it, swam forward, snarling with his teeth fully exposed. Fishlegs yelped and scurried out of the cave with Meatlug right behind him, leaving Hiccup and Toothless quite alone.

But not for long.

As Hiccup sat motionless, his eyes downcast and filled with sorrow, with Toothless lying beside him, a third presence entered the cave. He had the upper body of a man and the tail of an eel. It was Alvin the Treacherous, son of the Sea Witch Excellinor. He and his mother had been spying all day on the prince, waiting for the right moment to make their move. And this was the perfect opportunity.

"Poor child," Alvin crooned, and Hiccup jerked, looking around at the newcomer in surprise. "Poor, sad child. You have a very serious problem, haven't you? Oh, if only there was something I could do…" Then he clapped his hands together as if just realizing something. "Ooh, but there _is _something!"

Toothless growled at the stranger. The thing was half-eel. That alone was enough to set him on edge, even if he didn't see through the show of pity he was putting on. Which of course he did. But Hiccup held up a hand to silence him, and Toothless obeyed reluctantly. Frowning at the stranger, Hiccup asked warily, "Who are you?"

"Don't be scared," Alvin said, swimming uncomfortably close. Toothless bared his teeth warningly. "I represent someone who can help you. Someone who can make all your dreams come true. Just imagine: you and your Viking girl, together…forever…"

Hiccup blinked and slowly shook his head. "I don't understand."

"Excellinor has great powers," Alvin explained.

At the name he uttered, Hiccup felt his lungs squeeze every ounce of oxygen from his body. He drew back slightly. "The Sea Witch?" he gasped. "That's…I couldn't possibly…no!" He straightened, hating himself for his moment of fear, and waved his hand dismissively. "Get out of here! Leave me alone!" He turned away pointedly, and Toothless took this as permission to resume growling.

Alvin shrugged, apparently unfazed. "Suit yourself." He started swimming toward the entrance. "It was only a suggestion."

His tail flicked something as he passed, and it landed on the stone beside Hiccup without a sound. The prince blinked and looked down at it. He felt his heart miss a beat. It was a piece of the painting. By some miracle, Astrid's face had survived his father's rampage intact. He gingerly picked up the shard, frowning as he considered. She was so beautiful and so far away. He looked at Toothless, who warbled uneasily, and then sighed. "Wait," he called.

Alvin paused at the archway and grinned evilly before composing his features and turning back to face the prince. "Yes?"

Outside the cave, Fishlegs paced back and forth while Meatlug watched sadly. "Poor Hiccup," he sighed. Meatlug crooned, and the merman turned toward her. Perhaps trying to justify himself in his own eyes he explained, "I didn't mean to tell him, girl. It was an accident."

Meatlug grumbled in understanding and nudged her friend, trying to cheer him up. But Fishlegs could not be consoled. He felt like the worst friend in the history of friends. He should never have caved in to the pressure like that. He should have stayed firm for Hiccup's sake…

A shadow passed over him, cutting off his thoughts. Looking up, he was surprised to see Hiccup and Toothless following a strange creature that was half-man, half-eel. He frowned and swam up alongside his friend. "Hiccup, where are you going?" When Hiccup didn't answer – indeed, he didn't even look at Fishlegs – he persisted, "Hiccup, what are you doing here with this riffraff?" He shot a glare at Alvin, who leered back.

Hiccup, still without looking at his friend, said shortly, "I'm going to see Excellinor."

Fishlegs froze with a gasp of horror. The Sea Witch? Why would Hiccup go to her? "No, Hiccup!" he cried, hurrying to catch up. "She's a demon, she's a monster—"

"Why don't you go tell my father?" Hiccup shot coldly over his shoulder. "You're good at that."

Again Fishlegs stopped, his heart sinking down to his fins. "But…I…" he mumbled to the empty sea. Then he straightened and looked at Meatlug, who was floating beside him. "Come on, girl. Stay close."

He mounted his dragon and together the pair followed Hiccup, Toothless, and Alvin out of Hyacinth's borders, through the desolate wastelands, and up to a gigantic dragon skeleton. Alvin swam up to the great carcass without pausing, but Hiccup hesitated at the huge maw, wondering for the first time if maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Even though it was obviously dead, the skeletal dragon seemed to be waiting for him to enter so it could close its jaws and swallow him whole. Toothless warbled worriedly, and Hiccup turned to him. "Well, it can't hurt to hear what she has to say, right?" he asked, sounding as though he was trying to reassure himself. Toothless didn't look convinced.

"This way," Alvin called from the dragon's throat, and Hiccup continued after him, Toothless right behind him and Fishlegs and Meatlug a short distance back.

Upon entering the mouth of the dragon, Hiccup paused again, his heart hammering. The floor appeared to be moving. Drifting cautiously closer, he realized with a soft cry of disgust that it was covered with dozens – no, hundreds – of polyps, their brown, withered forms twisting and writhing about, large white eyes staring balefully up at him.

In his shock, he accidentally got too close, and one of the polyps latched on to his right wrist. Hiccup yelped and jerked back, managing to slip out of the polyp's grasp. Rubbing his wrist, he rose a little higher, out of their reach, as Toothless let out a soft roar of concern. "No, I'm all right, bud," Hiccup said, though his trembling voice did little to reassure his friend.

"Come in," called a voice from further inside the dragon skeleton, and Hiccup turned toward the sound with a small jump of surprise. "Come in, my child." The prince gulped and swam forward into the ribcage of the dragon, where the Sea Witch was waiting for him in front of her cauldron, yellow eyes gleaming, Alvin drifting close beside her. "We mustn't lurk in doorways. It's rude. One might question your upbringing."

The witch chortled at Hiccup's obvious discomfort before turning to a vanity mirror propped against a gigantic rib bone. "Now then," she said in a brisk, businesslike tone as she ran a comb through her wild, tangled hair. "You're here because you have a thing for this human, this Viking girl…"

"Not that I blame you," snickered Alvin. "She's quite a catch, isn't she?"

"Alvin!" Excellinor snapped, and Alvin stopped laughing at once, bowing his head contritely. The witch then smiled at Hiccup. "Forgive my son, dear. He likes to speak his mind without thought."

Hiccup merely nodded. He couldn't think of a thing to say.

Excellinor turned back to the mirror and resumed her combing, all business once again. "Well, dearie, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself."

Hiccup gasped softly, hardly daring to believe it. "Can you do that?"

Excellinor smirked to herself before composing her features into a simpering, sympathetic smile, turning to face the prince. "My dear, sweet child. That's what I do." She swam over to him and cupped his face in her hand, apparently not caring that he was visibly uncomfortable with her touch. "It's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk like yourself, poor souls with no one else to turn to." She drifted slowly away from him and started to sing softly to the tune of a waltz. Hiccup listened with a sense of unease he couldn't quite place stirring in his gut.

"_I admit that in the past I've been a nasty_

_They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch_

_But you'll find that nowadays_

_I've mended all my ways_

_Repented, seen the light and made a switch_

_True? Yes_"

She leaned in close to Hiccup and gave him a lewd wink. Hiccup drew back instinctively and barely suppressed a shudder. Excellinor didn't seem to notice and continued singing, now moving over to her cauldron.

"_And I fortunately know a little magic_

_It's a talent that I always have possessed_

_And here lately, please don't laugh_

_I use it on behalf_

_Of the miserable, lonely and depressed_"

She waved her hand and two images appeared over her cauldron: one a scrawny merman, the other a fat mermaid. They both looked incredibly sad, and Hiccup was so busy gazing down at them in pity that he didn't hear Excellinor whisper to Alvin, "_Pathetic…_"

Then she continued singing without missing a beat:

"_Poor unfortunate souls_

_In pain_

_In need_

_This one longing to be thinner_

_That one wants to get the girl_

_And do I help them?_

_Yes, indeed_"

She snapped her fingers, and the images changed. The merman became muscular and handsome, the mermaid slim and beautiful, and they fell lovingly into each others' arms. Hiccup couldn't help but smile at their happiness, forgetting for a moment that they were only images above a cauldron and not real.

"_Those poor unfortunate souls_

_So sad_

_So true_

_They come flocking to my cauldron_

_Crying, 'Spells, Excellinor, please!'_

_And I help them?_

_Yes, I do_"

Fishlegs and Meatlug hovered uncertainly at the entrance to the rib cage, hidden by the darkness. The stout merman silently observed the witch as she sang Hiccup into a sense of security. Indeed, his shoulders were noticeably less stiff than they had been earlier. Of course, this changed when Excellinor added, almost as an afterthought:

"_Now it's happened once or twice_

_Someone couldn't pay the price_

_And I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals_"

She clenched her hand into a fist, and at once the two merpeople shriveled and shrank into two identical polyps. Hiccup gasped and drew back in alarm.

"_Yes, I've had the odd complaint_

_But on the whole I've been a saint_

_To those poor unfortunate souls_"

Hiccup glanced back at the polyps littering the floor at the dragon skeleton's throat. He was starting to put two and two together but Excellinor grabbed him around the shoulder with one of her tentacles and said, "Now, here's the deal," which immediately diverted his attention. "I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days."

It was hard to tell if Hiccup was listening or not. He was busy trying to surreptitiously slip the tentacle off his shoulder. "Now listen, this is important," said the witch, and she gestured toward her cauldron. Three round orbs of light rose from its surface and immediately sank back into its depths as Hiccup watched silently. "Before the sun sets on the third day, you've got to get your dear Viking girl to fall in love with you. That is, you two have to kiss. And not just any kiss will do. It has to be the kiss of true love." Hiccup looked up at the witch as she explained, tearing his eyes away from the big red heart that was now glowing above the cauldron. "If you kiss her before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human permanently." The heart became an image of a man's silhouette, running. Hiccup smiled excitedly before Excellinor continued, "But if you don't, you turn back into a merman, and…you belong to me." The image of the man morphed into a merman and disappeared, as did Hiccup's smile. He looked back up to see Excellinor smiling toothily at him. "Have we got a deal?"

Hiccup considered for a moment. "If I become human," he said slowly, "I'll never be with my father or sister again."

Excellinor nodded. "That's right," she confirmed. "But you'll have your girl. Life's full of tough choices, innit?" She chuckled darkly and Hiccup bit his lip. But before he could say anything, she gasped, "Oh! And there is one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing, you know."

Hiccup's heart sank. "But I don't have any—"

A tentacle clamped over his mouth and Excellinor interrupted, "I'm not asking much. Just a token, really, a trifle. You'll never even miss it. What I want from you is…your voice."

Hiccup pushed the tentacle off his mouth and repeated, "My voice?" He put a hand to his throat. His voice. The gift he'd never really considered. Was he willing to part with it?

Excellinor nodded. "You got it, dearie. No more talking, singing, zip."

Hiccup frowned. "But without my voice, how can I—"

"You'll have your looks!" the witch interrupted with a bite of impatience. "Your handsome face! And don't underestimate the importance of body language! Ha!" She shook her hips, making Hiccup flush, and continued singing as she swam over to a cabinet full of bottles and vials containing Thor-only-knew-what. Her song had suddenly become faster, more hectic and vaguely threatening.

"_The girls up there don't like a lot of blabber_

_They think a man who gossips is a bore_

_Yes, on land it's much preferred_

_For men not to say a word_

_And after all, dear, what is idle prattle for?_"

Excellinor started tossing ingredients into the cauldron, making its contents hiss and bubble and issue blue and green steam. Hiccup gulped and swam a few paces away from the boiling mixture.

"_Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation_

_True gentlemen avoid it when they can_

_But girls dote and swoon and fawn_

_On a man who is withdrawn_

_You've got to hold your tongue when you're a man_"

She tossed in one final ingredient – Hiccup barely suppressed a yelp of shock when he saw it was a tongue – and the cauldron released a burst of steam that rose up, almost concealing the singing witch from his eyes.

"_Come on, you poor unfortunate soul_

_Go ahead!_

_Make your choice!_

_I'm a very busy woman_

_And I haven't got all day_

_It won't cost much_

_Just your voice!_

_You poor unfortunate soul_

_It's sad_

_But true_"

Excellinor suddenly appeared beside him, holding a long yellow scroll covered in fine writing. He tried to read it but was too distracted by her voice and the cauldron's hissing to really grasp what it was saying. He could tell it was some kind of contract, offering the witch's potion in return for his voice, but beyond that the details became sketchy. Excellinor withdrew, leaving the scroll floating beside him, and a pen made from the skeleton of a fish appeared next to it.

"_If you want to cross a bridge, my dear_

_You've got to pay the toll_

_Take a gulp and take a breath_

_And go ahead and sign the scroll!_"

As Hiccup hesitated, Excellinor leaned over and added in an undertone to her son, "_Alvin, dear boy, I've got him now!_" Then resuming her normal tone, she finished the song:

"_The boss is on a roll_

_This poor unfortunate soul_"

As the witch sang the last line, Hiccup made his decision. With half a glance at a very worried Toothless, he seized the pen, hesitated for the briefest of moments, then scrawled "Hiccup H. Haddock III" on the line at the bottom of the scroll. As Excellinor finished the last note, she seized the contract and smiled wickedly, turning her attention to her cauldron and reciting the incantation:

"_Beluga sevruga__, c__ome winds _

_Of the Caspian Sea_

_Larynxes glacydis, ad max_

_Laryngitis __la voce to me_" _  
><em>

A whirlpool surrounded the witch and the prince. The water turned first bright blue and then sickly green as two giant, wispy hands emerged from the cauldron between them. Excellinor directed her attention to Hiccup and commanded, "Now sing!"_  
><em>

Hiccup looked up at the hands and knew that he wouldn't be able to sing a single note. He was too terrified. He couldn't do it and he'd never become human and win Astrid's heart…

Astrid…

He closed his eyes and pictured her, imagined her smiling at him as they sat together on the beach, heard her voice ring in his head, heard her tell him that she loved him, felt her lips on his…

He opened his mouth and started to sing a wordless melody, similar to the one he'd sang to Astrid on the shores of Berk as she slowly rose out of unconsciousness. Chancing a glance at the witch, he saw her smiling cruelly, her eyes wide and crazed-looking. "Keep singing!" she screeched as the wispy hands bent down and reached for him. He didn't falter, continuing to picture Astrid in his mind. His voice stayed strong even as one of the hands slipped into his mouth, reaching down his throat. A moment later it emerged, and he fell silent. Clasped in the smoky fingers was a small golden orb of light: his voice, still emitting his song. He gripped his throat with his hands reflexively as his voice drifted over to the witch, sliding down into the opening of the spiral shell she wore around her neck and falling silent.

Excellinor began to laugh as a giant bubble suddenly surrounded the mute merman prince. At the same time, Hiccup gasped as a sharp pain shot down his tail, a pain more intense than any he'd ever felt before in his life. He cringed and convulsed in the bubble as his fins ripped apart and reformed almost at once into two human feet. His scales receded into his skin and his fish tail tore into two long, skinny legs. Then the bubble burst and Hiccup found himself struggling to swim. He inhaled to call for Toothless, forgetting he no longer had a voice to call with, and swallowed a great deal of water. He gagged and thrashed as he realized he could no longer breathe.

Toothless, Fishlegs, and Meatlug all converged on him at once. Toothless positioned himself under his flailing friend while Fishlegs and Meatlug rose up on either side of him, and together they rocketed to the surface, the sound of Excellinor's laughter echoing behind them all the way.

Just when Hiccup was sure he was going to drown, that he couldn't last for another second without breathing, his head burst free of the ocean. He gasped and choked, spitting out all the water from his lungs, lungs that were now only equipped to handle air. Then he began to breathe regularly, his chest rising and falling in a normal rhythm. Toothless, who surfaced beside him, crooned worriedly, and Hiccup smiled, patting him on the head in silent thanks. Then the foursome began the long, tiring swim toward Berk.


	5. Chapter 5: If Only

**A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter's not as good. I had a really hard time with this one for some reason. I hope you enjoy it, though! **

Chapter Five

If Only

As day broke on the Isle of Berk, Astrid, seated atop her Deadly Nadder, directed the dragon to land on the beach. She sighed as she slid off Stormfly's back, pulling Gobber's panpipes out of her saddlebag. She put it to her lips and played a short melody, the beautiful notes piercing the stillness of the morning. It was the song she'd heard her rescuer sing to her as she lay on these very shores following her harrowing experience at sea. She remembered each and every note with perfect clarity, yet she couldn't quite replicate it on the instrument. She could play the notes, but she couldn't make the music.

She sighed, and Stormfly, picking up on her mistress' distress, squawked worriedly. "It's that voice," Astrid moaned. "I can't get it out of my head." She turned to her dragon and stroked her smooth scales rather absently. "I've looked everywhere on this island, Stormfly. Where can he be?"

Unbeknownst to Astrid, her rescuer was only a few hundred feet away. In a secluded area of the beach, screened from view by a rock outcropping, Toothless and Meatlug pulled an exhausted Hiccup onto the sand, keeping his lower body in the water. Fishlegs, panting from the long night's swim, came as close as he dared as the prince stirred feebly, rolling over onto his back, propped up against a rock. He opened his eyes and looked down at his knees, which were sticking out of the water…

His heart missed a beat. His knees! He had knees! And that must mean…

He lifted one leg out of the water and gaped at the sight of his new appendage. It was long and shapely. The skin was pale but smooth, covered in a fine layer of brown hair. The limb was slender and lean, well-proportioned with the rest of his body. His foot was small and well-shaped, complete with five toes that he wiggled experimentally. He let out a silent laugh with delight.

"Well look what the catfish dragged in!"

Hiccup and Fishlegs both looked up at the sound of the voice, and Wodensfang came swooping in, landing on Hiccup's new leg, which he'd crossed over his other knee. The Terror's eyes swept the prince from head to foot and he said, "Look at you! There's something different…don't tell me…" He pondered for a moment. Then his face brightened. "Is that a new hairdo?"

Hiccup, still grinning widely, shook his head while Fishlegs gaped at the little dragon in disbelief. How in Odin's name could he not see…?

"No?" Wodensfang said, thinking again. "Well, let me see…" He walked up and down the length of Hiccup's calf, but he was so lost in thought the significance of this was totally lost on him. Fishlegs rolled his eyes. "Well I gotta admit, I can't quite put my foot on it, but if I just stand here long enough—"

"He's got legs, you idiot!" Fishlegs finally burst out, and Wodensfang took flight in shock, looking down at the perch he'd just vacated. "He traded his voice to the Sea Witch and got legs, for Thor's sake!"

Wodensfang landed on the rock Hiccup was reclining against and studied the prince's new limbs. "Oh," he said, and he chuckled in embarrassment. "I knew that."

Fishlegs put his head in his hand, praying to every god he knew of for strength. "Hiccup's been turned into a human," he explained, fighting to keep his voice even. "He has to make the Viking girl he saved fall in love with him and then he has to kiss her. And he's only got three days—"

He broke off when Hiccup, who had been trying to learn how to stand on his new feet, suddenly toppled over, landing in the water with a huge splash and drenching his friends.

"Just look at him!" Fishlegs cried in despair, gesturing wildly at Hiccup as he tried once again to get to his feet. "On legs! On human legs!" He groaned. "My nerves are shot! This is a catastrophe! What would his father say?! I tell you what his father would say: he'd say he's gonna filet a merman, that's what!" He took a deep breath to steady himself. "I'm going to swim right back home and tell him…"

He faltered when Hiccup, his smile vanishing at his friend's words, moved so that he was in front of Fishlegs, blocking his way out to the open ocean. He shook his head and held his hands out in a pleading gesture, but Fishlegs crossed his arms. "Don't shake your head at me, Hiccup!" he snapped. He pondered for a moment. "Maybe there's still time. If we could get that witch to give you back your voice, then you could go home with all the normal fish and just be…"

He faltered again. At the mention or returning home, of giving up everything he'd dreamed of for so long, Hiccup's face broke. At that moment, he looked utterly devastated, and Fishlegs wondered if he was actually going to cry, something he'd never seen Hiccup do.

"…just be…" he tried again, and then he sighed in defeat. "…just be miserable for the rest of your life." He shook his head and groaned, "All right, all right. I'll do whatever I can to help you win your girl."

Hiccup brightened immediately and hugged his friend, who returned it weakly. "I'm going soft," he muttered under his breath, but Hiccup didn't hear him.

"Now Hiccup," Wodensfang said, flying over to the beach where a ragged sail, the remnants of some long-forgotten shipwreck, lay. "If you want to be a human, the first thing you gotta do is dress like one…"

Not far away, Astrid was sitting on the sand, gazing blankly out at the sea. Beside her, Stormfly reclined, her head under her wing.

Suddenly the Nadder looked around, alert, sniffing the air. She squawked and stood. Astrid turned toward the dragon with a frown. "What is it, Stormfly? Hey!" Stormfly was hurrying away from her down the shoreline. "Come back here!" Astrid stood and ran after the dragon, calling her name and wondering what had gotten her attention.

Meanwhile, Hiccup had just finished wrapping the torn sail around his waist, covering his lower body down to his knees. "You look terrific, kid!" Wodensfang complimented him, nodding. "A real lady-killer!"

Hiccup highly doubted that. In fact, he felt rather ridiculous. But he smiled and looked down at his feet, still lost in wonder.

His reverie was interrupted by a loud screech, and he looked up in time to see a big blue dragon hurtling around the corner toward him. Fishlegs shrieked in terror and dove, Meatlug right behind him, and Wodensfang took off in fright. Only Toothless stayed with Hiccup, jumping in front of his friend to defend him, growling. But Hiccup, who recognized the Nadder as Astrid's, jumped forward and put a soothing hand on the Night Fury's head before a fight could break out, gently urging him to back off. Toothless hummed quietly, clearly unhappy, but he took a few steps back. Satisfied, Hiccup turned to the Nadder, who was sniffing him curiously. The prince held up a hand, and a moment later Stormfly pressed her nose into his palm, accepting him. Hiccup grinned.

"Stormfly!"

The dragon and the boy both looked around at the call. Hiccup felt his heart stop beating: Astrid had just rounded the corner and was scolding her dragon. "What's gotten into you, you overgrown lizard?" she demanded, crossing her arms. Then she noticed Hiccup standing there and came to a sudden stop, her face going blank. "Oh," she breathed. "I see."

Hiccup smiled and ran a hand nervously through his hair as Astrid approached him. She smiled warmly, and when she spoke her voice was soft and soothing, as if she feared he might be frightened. "Hey there. Are you all right?" Hiccup nodded, grinning sheepishly. Now that the girl he loved was so close, he felt incredibly shy. Astrid turned to her dragon and gave her a fond pat. "Sorry if this knucklehead scared you," she said. "She's harmless, really. She seems to have taken a liking to you."

It was true. Stormfly had returned her attention to the prince and was continuing to sniff him. She gave his cheek a lick, which made Hiccup grimace and Astrid giggle. From behind Hiccup, Toothless growled warningly, and Astrid's gaze snapped to the black dragon, her eyes going wide. "Is…is that…a Night Fury?" she asked, sounding awed.

Hiccup nodded and gestured for her to come closer. Looking faintly nervous, Astrid stepped toward the smaller dragon. Toothless watched her warily, his pupils slightly dilated. He glanced once at Hiccup for reassurance, and his friend nodded. Astrid held out her hand cautiously, and Toothless crooned, leaning forward so that his nose pressed into her palm. Astrid inhaled sharply and said in wonder, "Wow…I've never seen a Night Fury before…no one has…how did you ever manage to train him?"

She directed this last question to Hiccup, who shrugged. Astrid frowned, and Hiccup thought it was because of his lackluster answer. But how else was he supposed to explain it? He didn't have a voice anymore to speak with. However, her focus was clearly on something else, and her next words were, "You seem very familiar to me. Have we met?"

Hiccup nodded vigorously, an excited smile spreading across his face. She remembered him! She'd heard his voice and seen his face as he'd sung to her! She knew him and would love him and he would be able to stay with her for the rest of his life!

"We _have_ met?" Astrid clarified, and when Hiccup nodded again her face lit up. "I knew it! You're the one! The one I've been looking for! What's your name?"

"Hiccup," the prince replied, except no sound came out. In his exhilaration he'd forgotten he was now mute. His face fell.

"What's wrong?" Astrid frowned. In reply, Hiccup placed his hand to his throat. "You can't speak?" He shook his head sadly. "Oh…" Disappointment clouded Astrid's eyes. "Then you couldn't be who I thought…"

Hiccup felt his heart break. No, he was the one! He had saved her! It was him! How could he possibly get her to understand? He started gesturing wildly with his hands, trying to tell his story in mime, but he clearly wasn't getting through to her. She merely stared at him, her brow knit in confusion. "What is it? You're hurt? No? You need help?"

In his desperation to make Astrid understand, Hiccup overbalanced and suddenly found himself falling. But before he could hit the sand, Astrid caught him in her arms. "Whoa, there!" she gasped. "Careful, easy…" Hiccup froze, realizing that their faces were mere inches apart. He looked into her beautiful blue eyes, willing her to see who he was…

For a moment, he thought he saw a faint glimmer of recognition. But it disappeared quickly and Astrid said, "You must have really been through something." Then she smiled comfortingly. "Don't worry, I'll help you. Come on. You'll be okay."

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and turned him around, leading him slowly toward the village. Hiccup smiled weakly and glanced back. Fishlegs and Meatlug had partially emerged from the water to watch him go, and Wodensfang had landed on one of the rocks nearby. Hiccup gave them a little wave, which Fishlegs returned before slipping back into the water. Hiccup faced forward once more, allowing Astrid to support him as they started climbing the hill toward Berk, Toothless walking sedately behind them.

Their arrival caused a bit of a stir in the village, due in no small part to Hiccup's near-nudity. People stared quite openly as they passed, but Astrid ignored them all, leading the mute prince to the forge. Hiccup didn't bother trying to conceal his awe, craning his neck to get a good look at everything they passed. Astrid wondered vaguely at his obvious curiosity but she pushed it out of her mind. There were more important matters to attend to.

They reached the forge. "Hey Gobber!" Astrid called, pausing on the threshold. "Got a minute?"

Gobber paused in his hammering and looked up. His eyes widened comically at the sight of the half-naked man behind Astrid and he asked, "Do I even want to know?"

"I found him on the beach," Astrid explained. "He must have been shipwrecked or something."

"Or something?" Gobber repeated with a frown. "Has he not told you how he ended up on the beach, lass?"

Astrid shook her head. "He's mute, Gobber. He can't speak."

"Oh." The blacksmith's face cleared. "Well, that explains things." His jaw then dropped as his eyes fell on the black dragon trailing loyally behind them, looking distinctly nervous. "Is that a Night Fury?" he asked.

"Yes," Astrid replied impatiently, "but could we possibly focus on the task at hand, Gobber?" She gestured toward the sail preserving Hiccup's modesty, and Gobber blinked. "Oh! Right. Well, there might be something upstairs." He pointed toward a ladder leading to an attic area above the forge. "I think I've still got some old clothes up there. There might be something in his size."

Astrid nodded and headed over to the ladder, leaving Hiccup and Toothless open to Gobber's critical eye. Hiccup felt himself blush and found himself suddenly very interested in a barrel of weapons standing by the door. "So," the blacksmith said after an awkward silence. "Shipwrecked, huh?"

Deciding it was just as good an excuse as any, Hiccup nodded. Gobber eyed him thoughtfully. "Aye…the seas can be rough, lad. I ought to know. Been shipwrecked myself many times." A rather dreamy expression crossed his face. "Ah, you never forget your first shipwreck…" Then he launched into full storyteller mode. "I was stranded on an island with only my broom…"

"Oh gods, Gobber, please don't start!" Astrid called from the attic. "We've been over this! There's no such thing as a hammerhead whale! Or a hammerhead yak! You made all that up!"

"Hmph!" Gobber snorted as Astrid descended the ladder, carrying a bundle of clothes in her hand. "I didn't make it up, lass, it's the truth!" he insisted.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, the Boneknapper dragon is real enough, but I don't believe for a moment you were saved by those two figments of your imagination."

Gobber grumbled under this breath – Hiccup caught what sounded like, "kids these days…" – as Astrid turned to the newcomer. Smiling, she handed over the clothes and said, "Here you go, I think these should fit fine."

Hiccup accepted the bundle gratefully, grinning rather goofily at her. Gobber showed him into a back room where he could clothe himself in privacy, and he retreated, Toothless following close behind. Astrid watched them vanish behind the curtain and didn't move for several seconds.

"All right, lass, I know that look," Gobber sighed. "What's on your mind?"

Astrid looked at him and felt her cheeks go pink. There was no escaping Gobber's critical eye or his persistent questioning. She had the experience to know this. "It's just…" She glanced back at the curtains briefly before explaining in an undertone, "For a moment, I thought he might have been the one who saved me the other night."

Gobber's eyes widened. "And how do you know he's not?"

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Because he can't speak, Gobber! If he can't speak then he can't sing, and I _know _I heard the man who saved me singing to me."

Gobber opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by harsh laughter. Looking around, they saw Snotlout and the twins hovering by the door. They'd heard the conversation and Snotlout apparently found it all incredibly funny. "Still convinced you were rescued by some handsome stranger with the voice of a god?" he scoffed.

Astrid's face flushed but she stood up straighter and retorted, "Yeah, I do. Got a problem with it?"

"People are starting to talk in the village," the female twin Ruffnut piped up. "They're saying you're going bonkers!"

"No they're not," Gobber said dismissively. "They just think you're a little confused, that's all." Astrid rounded on him but he quickly added, "I believe you, lass, don't worry. It's the rest of the village that needs convincing."

"Good luck with that," Snotlout snorted, and when Astrid glared at him he continued, "Astrid, come on. Men just don't swim around rescuing people in the middle of the ocean and then flutter off into oblivion like some—"

"I'm telling you all, he was _real_!" Astrid insisted. "I'm going to find that man!" Then she lowered her eyes to the ground and added in a faint whisper, "And I'm going to marry him."

Everyone gaped at her with this declaration, but before anyone could speak the curtain was pushed open and Hiccup emerged wearing a green tunic, darker green leggings, a brown fur vest, and matching brown fur boots. Snotlout and the twins blinked and stared at him, stunned into silence. Hiccup stared back, feeling rather self-conscious with an audience watching him.

Astrid stepped forward and asked, "They fit all right?"

Hiccup's eyes flashed to her, and he smiled and nodded gratefully.

"Good." Astrid gestured toward the others. "This is Snotlout Jorgenson, and those are Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston. Twins. They're my _friends_." She placed an odd emphasis on the last word, punctuated by a heated glare at them all. Hiccup couldn't even begin to fathom the reason for this but nodded courteously to them all in turn. Still looking at the teens, Astrid added, "And to answer your questions, no he can't speak, and yes that's a Night Fury." She gestured at the dragon, who still stuck as close to his friend as he could. The teens' eyes all widened and their jaws dropped. Hiccup covered his mouth with his hand to hide his grin.

"Well," Gobber said, removing his hammer attachment and inserting his hook into his stump of an arm. "This is pleasant and all, but I'm starving. How about we all head up to the Great Hall for lunch?"

The others all nodded and Astrid said to Hiccup, "Follow us, we'll show you the way."

The group attracted just as many stares on their walk to the Great Hall as they had on their way to the forge, but neither Hiccup nor Astrid much cared. Hiccup was far too busy looking around at everything he could see, his eyes wide in childlike wonder. Astrid was watching him with a faint smile on her face. In the back of her mind, she was still trying to figure out where she'd seen him before. Behind them, Gobber was filling in the others on details of the stranger's sudden arrival.

The Great Hall was crowded with Vikings all clamoring to be fed. Following Astrid like a lost child, Hiccup joined the line queued up to get food. Astrid handed him a bowl, and his eyes widened. A dinglehopper! He thought back to what Wodensfang had said about dinglehoppers and their use and, grinning, put it on his head.

It took him all of two seconds to realize that this wasn't the right thing to do with the object. Astrid blinked and stared at him, her mouth hanging open in mute surprise. Glancing back, Hiccup saw that the others all looked similarly bemused. Blushing, he quickly removed the bowl from his head, smiling sheepishly.

"Well," Astrid broke the awkward silence. "That's, ah…not what that's for. I take it you don't have bowls where you come from?"

Hiccup's face went, if possible, even redder. He shook his head.

"Here," Astrid continued. "We use these to hold food, like this." She held hers out and accepted a spoonful of stew from the cook, who eyed Hiccup with silent confusion. Ignoring the questioning stare, Hiccup imitated her and soon found himself carrying a bowlful of delicious-smelling food. He breathed deeply, savoring the scent, and grinned in silent thanks.

Once they all had their meal, Astrid led them over to a table. Hiccup sat down between Astrid and Gobber, with Snotlout and the twins across from them. As he ate – gods, that stew was wonderful! – Hiccup listened to Astrid and Gobber talking about the work load at the forge, not understanding much but drinking in every word. He barely noticed the furtive glances he kept receiving from people all over the hall. He wasn't sure if it was because he was a stranger or the fact he had a Night Fury hovering protectively behind him. Either way, it didn't bother him much. He was far too enamored by the girl sitting beside him.

He suddenly heard a loud clang and looked around to see the twins banging their heads together. The sound was made by their helmets, which, judging by the numerous dings and scratches, had suffered this abuse rather frequently.

Hiccup's eyes widened. In all the excitement of joining the human world, he'd totally failed to notice that almost all the Vikings in the room were wearing these things, the objects Wodensfang had called snarfblats. Looking around at Gobber, he saw that even the blacksmith was wearing one. Wodensfang had said that humans wore them at parties and gatherings as fun little noisemakers. Clearly the twins were having fun with theirs, so without pausing to think Hiccup reached up and rapped Gobber's helmet smartly with his knuckles.

"Ow!" Gobber yelped, looking down at him in bewilderment. Once again Hiccup realized that he'd been misinformed and blushed as he felt everyone's eyes turn to him, widening in surprise.

Astrid saved the moment by laughing. "Wow, I didn't see that coming," she remarked. Hiccup glanced sheepishly up at her and was relieved to see her grinning at him.

Gobber grumbled, "Very amusing." Then he leaned over and said to Hiccup, "If I were you, lad, I wouldn't follow their example." He gestured towards the twins, who were bickering over something and didn't look around. "They're not exactly the best role models, if you get my meaning."

Hiccup did, and he nodded, trying to convey a silent apology. Gobber might have understood, for he grinned. Then looking over at Astrid he added, "Good to see you smiling again, lass."

Astrid blushed but her grin didn't fade. She glanced at Hiccup and their eyes met. The prince felt his stomach do a little backflip and smiled at her. She returned the expression before looking back at her bowl of stew.

Silently cursing Wodensfang and his clearly misguided explanations of the human world, Hiccup made sure not to do a single thing until he saw Astrid do it first for the rest of the day.

…

Sunset found Hiccup sitting on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, smiling contentedly. He'd spent the entire day with Astrid. After lunch she'd gone into the woods to train with her axe. Watching her hurl the weapon with deadly precision, he made a mental note to never get on her bad side. He had a funny feeling he'd sorely regret it if he did. After that they'd returned to the forge, where Hiccup had listened to Gobber and Astrid exchange lighthearted banter. Then dinner at the Great Hall, thankfully without any embarrassing incidents this time.

At the moment Astrid was taking Stormfly on an evening flight around the island. Sensing that this was something of a private moment between the girl and her dragon, Hiccup had come here to the cliffs to gaze out at the sea. The faintest twinges of homesickness were stinging his heart, but he pushed these thoughts aside. He was happy here. The people were nice, if a bit strange. As his story became known to the residents of Berk, they all offered their sympathy and hospitality. Questioning stares had become friendly smiles and waves, and many had expressed great interest in Toothless, who never once left Hiccup's side. The dragon soon relaxed as he became accustomed to the extra attention, and by suppertime Hiccup was starting to suspect he was actually enjoying the admiring strokes and scratches under the chin.

And best of all, Astrid seemed to like him. She smiled and laughed and was completely at ease with him around. She spoke to him as if he was a long-lost friend, and he rather thought his heart might stop beating every time he looked into her bright blue eyes, shining with the light of youthful, carefree joy…

There was a splash from the ocean below, and Hiccup straightened, peering intently into the gathering darkness. There was just enough sunlight left for him to make out a shape emerging from the water, a vaguely human shape.

Fishlegs!

Hiccup stood and ran down the path to the beach, Toothless trotting along behind him. He stopped at the water's edge and waved to his friend. "Hey Hiccup!" Fishlegs called, coming as close to shore as he could. "How are you doing so far?"

Hiccup, unable to put his feelings to words even if he'd had a voice to speak them with, smiled widely and threw his arms out to the side. Fishlegs got the message. "That's good to hear. Have you two kissed yet?"

Hiccup's face fell slightly and he shook his head.

"Well, there's still time," Fishlegs said hurriedly. "You still have two days. That's plenty of time. Now…" He considered for a moment before continuing, "Here's what you have to do: you have to impress her, make her think you're worthy of her affections."

Hiccup frowned.

"First," Fishlegs instructed, "flex your arms, like this." He struck a pose, curling both arms to make his biceps bulge. Hiccup imitated him and was dismayed at the reminder that his own arms lacked the muscle most Vikings his age had. Clearly this wasn't going to impress anyone. At any rate, he got the impression that Astrid didn't care about such things. She certainly hadn't give Snotlout a second look when he'd struck a similar pose that afternoon (unless rolling one's eyes and walking away was some strange human way of expressing admiration).

"Then, once she's good and impressed," Fishlegs continued, oblivious to Hiccup's thoughts, "pucker up your lips…" He did so to comedic effect. "…like _dis_." His words were distorted through his puckered lips, and Hiccup had to fight to keep himself from laughing. He humored his friend by puckering his own lips, but he felt incredibly foolish and stopped almost at once.

"Hey!"

Hiccup looked up, startled to see a dragon descending rapidly toward him. Fishelgs gasped and dove back into the water as Astrid landed Stormfly beside Hiccup, grinning down at him. He smiled back, feeling his heart lift. "What're you doing out here?"

Hiccup shrugged and gestured vaguely out at the placid sea, glistening in the last of the sun's rays. Following his gaze as she dismounted her dragon, Astrid nodded. "Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Her smile flickered. "Beautiful, yet deadly."

Hiccup looked over at her, frowning. He'd never looked at the ocean as deadly before. But then again, he'd been able to breathe underwater until very recently, whereas Astrid hadn't. He nodded in understanding.

After a moment Astrid said, "You know, I can sympathize with you. About being shipwrecked, I mean. I was too only a couple of nights ago."

Hiccup tried to look as if this was news to him, raising his eyebrows in silent invitation for her to continue. She nodded. "Yeah. A storm came out of nowhere and sank our boat. I would have drowned except…" She paused, as if considering how much to tell. "I was saved by someone. I don't know who he was or where he came from or where he is now. All I know is I woke up on this beach and heard someone singing to me." A small smile played at the corners of her mouth as she remembered. "He had a wonderful voice. I didn't get a good look at him. By the time I'd fully come around he'd disappeared. But I heard his voice. It…it was so sweet, so soft, yet so powerful, like…well, like the ocean itself, in a way."

She shook her head at her own analogy, not noticing that Hiccup was staring at her in slowly-mounting dismay. She didn't remember him. Well, she did, but only his voice. Of course. The one part of himself he'd had to give up was the only thing she recalled about him.

"You know, you remind me a bit of him," Astrid continued after a moment, and Hiccup's heart missed a beat. "I don't know why, but…there's something about you that makes me think of that man. Maybe…I don't know, I thought I caught a glimpse of him as I was waking up but I can't be sure…" She trailed off, apparently lost in her own thoughts, and Hiccup silently pleaded with her to make the connection. She'd seen him! She knew it was him! _Please, gods! Let her remember that it was me after all! _

Then Astrid shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with all this." She smiled, obviously unaware that Hiccup's heart was sinking like a stone. "Gobber wanted me to tell you that you can sleep in the spare room in the forge until we can find something better for you."

Hiccup tried to smile – he wasn't sure how well he managed it – and nodded in thanks.

"Well," Astrid said after a moment, "I guess…I'll see you tomorrow then?" There was a slight lilt in her voice that made it sound like a question. Hiccup wondered at it for a moment. Did it mean she wanted to see him tomorrow? Was she afraid he was going to disappear without a trace like her mystery man?

He nodded, and Astrid smiled before mounting Stormfly again. "Good night!" she called as the dragon took off, leaving Hiccup and Toothless alone on the beach. Hiccup watched her go, feeling his heart ache with sadness. Toothless, sensing his friend's distress but not understanding the cause, whined worriedly, and Hiccup stroked his forehead absently, his gaze turning back to the sea.

He no longer had a voice, but this was a moment of high emotion and music flowed through him nonetheless. Playing the melody in his mind, he mentally began to sing.

_If only you could know_

_The things I long to say_

_If only I could tell you__  
><em>

_What I wish I could convey__  
><em>

_It's in my every glance__  
><em>

_My heart's an open book__  
><em>

_You'd see it all at once__  
><em>

_If only you would look__  
><em>

He sighed and looked up at the sky. Astrid and Stormfly were long since gone, but he gazed after them anyway, wishing more than anything he'd made some other kind of bargain with the Sea Witch. He could have done without a couple of fingers, surely. It would have been better than losing his voice. He was just starting to understand the nature of the deal he'd made. The song continued: _  
><em>

_If only you could glimpse_

_The feeling that I feel_

_If only you would notice_

_What I'm dying to reveal__  
><em>

_The dreams I can't declare_

_The needs I can't deny__  
><em>

_You'd understand them all__  
><em>

_If only you would try__  
><em>

He wiped away the tears that were starting to form in the corners of his eyes. The single advantage to singing in his mind was that his voice stayed strong even through his turbulent emotions. _  
><em>

_All my secrets, you would learn them__  
><em>

_All my longings, you'd return them__  
><em>

_Then the silence would be broken__  
><em>

_Not a word would need be spoken__  
><em>

He wasn't aware of it, but up at her house in the village, Astrid was thinking about him too. And as she thought, her musings took on a musical rhythm. She marveled over this for a moment: she'd never thought in song before. Yet there was something about this stranger that made her feel, well…musical. So she just went with it and sang, careful to keep her voice low enough that no one else heard it.

"_What is it about him__  
><em>

_That's so wonderfully, impossibly familiar?__  
><em>

_Why do I feel dizzy__  
><em>

_In a way I've only felt but once before?__  
><em>

_How come when he looks at me _

_It seems like time stops moving__  
><em>

_Almost like the way it did that day upon the shore?__  
><em>

_But that voice!__  
><em>

_Ah, that voice!_

_Where's that voice?_"

The two voices, one mental and one verbal, created a beautiful overlap that no one heard as Hiccup continued:

_If only it were true__  
><em>

_If only for a while_

_If only you would notice__  
><em>

_How I ache behind my smile_

_I guess you never will__  
><em>

_I guess it doesn't show__  
><em>

_But if I never find a way to tell you so__  
><em>

He paused for a moment, closing his eyes as his heart clenched. He shouldn't despair just yet. Fishlegs was right, there was still time. Perhaps she didn't recognize him for who he was, but he still had a chance to win her heart.

Still…it would have been easier if she knew…

_Oh, what I would give__  
><em>

_If only you could know_

Looking out her window at the night sky above, Astrid sang her last lines softly. Her voice didn't make it any further than the evening air, and Hiccup didn't hear it.

"_Strange as a dream__  
><em>

_Real as the sea__  
><em>

_If you can hear me now__  
><em>

_Come set me free_"

At about the same time, Hiccup finished his own song with one last line:

_If only…_

After that, the night was silent. Unaware of each other's inner turmoil, Hiccup and Astrid went to bed thinking of each other, the former wondering how he was going to win his love's heart, the latter wondering if her heart had already been won.

…

Down on the ocean floor, someone else was fretting. King Stoick swam back and forth across the throne room, his heart pounding with fear.

He looked up as Camicazi entered and his heart lifted hopefully. "Any sign of them?" he asked.

He knew from his daughter's expression what her answer would be before she said it. "No, Daddy. We've searched everywhere. We've found no trace of Hiccup or Toothless. Fishlegs has gone missing too and no one has any idea where he is either."

Stoick groaned. "Well, keep looking! Leave no shell unturned, no coral unexplored! Let no one rest until my son is safe at home!"

Camicazi nodded and said, "Yes, Daddy." Then she paused and swam up to her father, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's safe. We'll find him."

Unable to speak, Stoick just nodded. Camicazi turned and left the room, and the king sank onto his throne with a sigh. He buried his face in his hands. "I did this," he murmured to the empty sea. "Dear Thor…Odin…anyone…please bring my son home…please…"

The sea did not respond.

**A/N: For reasons that should be obvious, the song "Les Poissons" just wouldn't work in this AU, so I replaced it with another song. It's from the **_**Little Mermaid **_**Broadway musical based on the film. In the show, it's a quartet sung at the end of the second night and performed by Ariel, Eric, Sebastian, and King Triton. For the purposes of my story, I altered the context as well as a few of the lyrics, borrowing more from the Demo version of the song, which is just a duet between Ariel and Eric. Both the Broadway version and the Demo are available for your listening pleasure on YouTube. **

**And I hope you'll excuse my lackluster excuse to have Astrid singing. I know it's a musical and they require a great deal of suspension of disbelief anyway, but I've been trying to at least partially justify why people (and merpeople) are bursting randomly into song. If I haven't done a good job of it, I apologize. **

**Hope you're enjoying the story! **


	6. Chapter 6: Kiss the Girl

**A/N: No, it's not a typo. The song is still going to be "Kiss the Girl," not "Kiss the Boy." The latter just doesn't have the same ring to it and would be a total pain to rewrite. So instead, I just slightly altered the context of the song. Fishlegs will be singing to Hiccup, not Astrid. Hope that clears up any confusion. Enjoy! **

Chapter Six

Kiss the Girl

_It was a dream_, Hiccup thought as he awoke the next morning, his eyes still firmly shut. _It was a wonderful dream. I dreamed I traded my voice for legs and that I was a human. And I spent the day with Astrid and she liked me and I had a chance of making her fall in love with me. Such a wonderful dream…_

It was so wonderful that he didn't open his eyes for several minutes, hoping that he could remain in the fantasy for just a little while longer before getting up and seeing to his royal duties. But as the seconds ticked by he realized that something was off. He felt entirely too dry and warm, and the surface he was lying on didn't feel the least bit like his bed in the castle.

And…what were these strange strips of fabric hugging his body…?

His eyes snapped open and he jerked upright, startling Toothless into wakefulness. Ignoring the dragon's confused and irritated grumblings, Hiccup threw back the blanket covering him and gaped down at his legs. His face split into a joyous smile. It wasn't a dream! He was really a human! And he still had a chance to win the girl of his dreams…

The thought had just crossed his mind when there was a knock on the door. "Are you awake?" came Astrid's voice from the other side.

Hiccup opened his mouth to say he was and remembered that he could no longer speak. So he jumped up and hurried to the door, opening it and smiling warmly at Astrid. She looked radiant in the early morning sunlight, and for a moment he had some difficulty breathing.

"Good morning," she said brightly. "Did you sleep well?"

Hiccup nodded and then pointed to her, silently asking, "And what about you?"

Astrid understood and replied, "I slept fine, thanks." It was a lie. She'd lain awake for hours trying to sort through her thoughts, and when she'd finally drifted off it had been a light, uneasy sleep. But since this mysterious stranger had been the root of her insomnia, she decided against telling him the truth.

"So," she said after a moment, "it occurred to me last night that I never showed you around. We pretty much stuck to the forge, the Great Hall, and the forests. So how about I give you a tour of Berk?"

Hiccup liked the sound of that and nodded eagerly. "Great," Astrid said, clapping her hands together. "Well…let's get some breakfast first, and then I'll show you the island."

Hiccup grinned and followed her to the Great Hall, Toothless trotting along behind him, still slightly irritated at his abrupt awakening. After a hurried breakfast, Astrid led him through the village. She showed him the marketplace, where Hiccup studied each and every item for sale with rapt fascination. "What, have you never seen a loaf of bread before?" Astrid asked as he breathed in the rich aroma coming from the baker's cart. When he shook his head, she gaped at him. "Seriously?" He shook his head again. She stared at him for a moment, and then she remembered herself. She bought a loaf and handed it to him. "Here, give it a try."

Hiccup took a bite, and his eyes widened. It was worth becoming human to get a taste of freshly-baked bread. Astrid giggled at his expression. "I know, it's good, isn't it?"

Hiccup could think of a dozen words that were better than simply "good," but as he couldn't utter any of them he simply smiled.

He was intrigued too by the woman selling fabric and furs. Always one for tactile experience, Hiccup couldn't resist running his fingers through every piece of pelt he could reach, much to the amusement of the woman who owned the cart. Then it was to the woodcarver's station, where he examined the little statuettes available for sale. They reminded him of those he'd had in his collection of treasures, and he absolutely loved the little wooden dragon Astrid pointed out to him. There was the butcher's stand, though Hiccup found himself feeling slightly woozy at the sight of so much raw and bloody meat. They moved on fairly quickly from that particular corner of the market.

By the time they'd finished roaming the village square, it was lunchtime. So they returned to the Great Hall and ate with Gobber, Snotlout, and the twins again. Hiccup listened to their conversation with a small smile on his face, feeling a warmth that had nothing to do with the fire crackling merrily in the center of the room. He felt like he was a part of them, like he belonged. Gobber and Astrid in particular went to great lengths to include him in the conversations, always careful to ask questions that could be answered with nods, shakes of the heads, or simple miming.

The only uncomfortable moment came toward the end of the meal. Gobber belched and looked over at Astrid. "By the way, lass, I forgot to mention it earlier: Mogadon the Meathead and his son Thuggory are coming back to Berk in a couple of weeks. It's purely a business matter, of course, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Thuggory is going to try winning you over again."

Hiccup's smile vanished and his heart might have turned to ice. Coldness radiated into his every limb, sapping every bit of happiness he'd been feeling only moments before.

Astrid snorted and rolled her eyes. "Oh great, that's just what I need."

Gobber shrugged. "I know how you feel about him, lass, and about marriage in general. I'm just giving you a heads-up."

Astrid sighed. "Well…thanks. I appreciate the warning." She then glanced over at Hiccup and, apparently mistaking his panic-stricken expression for one of confusion, explained, "Gobber's trying to marry me off. I'm officially the heir to the chiefhood, but because I'm a woman I can't claim the title until I'm married." Her expression and tone left Hiccup in no doubt of her feelings on that matter. "But not a single man I've met has lived up to my expectations."

Snotlout snorted, and Hiccup gathered he was one of those who hadn't satisfied Astrid's standards. "What she means is that she wants to fall in love," he said, and then he pretended to gag.

Hiccup frowned but Astrid went one step further. She kicked him under the table hard enough to make him yelp in pain. She was red-faced but maintained perfect composure when she replied, "Well, I do want to actually like the guy I'm going to end up living the rest of my life with. Is that such a bad thing?"

Hiccup shook his head, thinking, _No, it's not a bad thing. It's what I want too. And I have a feeling we'd be happy together if only you'd let me in. _

Lunch ended not long after that and Astrid offered to show Hiccup the rest of the village. Forcing his worries aside, he followed her back into the sunlight. Their attention was immediately caught by the sound of music floating up to them from the town square. "What's going on?" Astrid asked.

"Eh, sounds like they're having a little party down there," Gobber replied, shrugging.

Intrigued, Hiccup and Astrid went down to investigate. There was a group of Vikings playing a variety of instruments: a tambourine, a flute, and a set of panpipes. (Astrid looked away pointedly when Gobber wondered aloud where his own panpipes had wandered off to.) Several Vikings were dancing happily, spinning around in tight circles in tune to the music and grinning as if they hadn't a care in the world.

Hiccup watched them for a moment, studying their movements and committing them to memory. Then he glanced up at Astrid, who was watching the dancers with a smile on her face, clapping along with several other spectators. Hiccup grinned and, feeling a little daring, grabbed her hand. She looked around at him, her eyes wide. "What? What are you—" She broke off with a gasp as Hiccup led her out into the makeshift dance floor. He imitated the others dancing around him and started leading her in a jig. She followed his motions automatically at first, still apparently too bewildered to do anything more. Then her smile returned and she got into it. She gave herself over to him and the music, and they danced and moved almost as one being. She grinned up at him, and he beamed back. He messed up a couple of times but always caught himself and carried on as if nothing had happened, not even aware that most of the watching Vikings were staring at them. None of them had ever seen Astrid dance before. What in the name of all the gods had this stranger done to make her act this way?

The song finally ended, and Hiccup held Astrid close. She was laughing rather breathlessly, her face flushed but still sporting a wide, delighted smile. _Do it_, said a voice in Hiccup's head. _This is your chance. Kiss her. Kiss her now! _

But he didn't. After a moment Astrid drew back slightly and Hiccup released her, hating himself for his hesitation.

Unseen by anybody, Wodensfang was watching from the sky. When they broke apart he sighed in disappointment and headed toward the beach, where Fishlegs was waiting impatiently for a report. "Has he kissed her yet?" he asked without preamble at the Terror's approach.

"Nope. Not yet. Not even a peck on the cheek," Wodensfang replied sadly. "What is that boy waiting for?"

Fishlegs sighed and didn't answer.

…

As his second day as a human drew to a close, Hiccup found himself once more sitting on the cliff overlooking the sea. Only this time, Astrid was with him, seated so close that he could have wrapped his arm around her shoulders if he'd dared to. Which of course he didn't. Down below, Fishlegs stared up at him. "Come on, Hiccup. Time is running out. If you're going to kiss her, now's the time to do it!"

But Hiccup made no move to do anything more than simply sit there. Every time he considered it he refrained. He was terrified that she'd reject him. And then what would he do?

But rejection seemed unlikely. Astrid sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. Hiccup's heart stuttered but she didn't notice. "I had fun today," she said after a while. "More fun than I've had in a long time, in fact. Thanks."

Hiccup smiled and, hesitating slightly, took her hand in his. She made no move to take it away. That was a good sign, right?

"Nothing is happening!" Wodensfang hissed, sitting atop Meatlug's head as she drifted beside her master. "Only one day left and that boy hasn't puckered up once!" He paused. "Okay…all right, this calls for a little vocal romantic stimulation." He spread his wings and took off, rising up and landing on a tree not far from where Hiccup and Astrid sat contentedly. He cleared his throat and started to sing.

Hiccup was the first to hear the sound and to recognize the voice. He felt a thrill of horror and resisted the urge to throw a rock at his friend. Great Thunder of Thor! That little dragon had the worst singing voice in the entire archipelago!

Astrid noticed it too. She grimaced and pulled her hand free from Hiccup's to cover her ears. "Whoa!" she gasped. "Snotlout must have been training Terrible Terrors to sing again. I told him last time that it was a bad idea."

Hiccup, lamenting that her hand was no longer in his own, shot a glare back at the tree where Wodensfang sat. Totally misinterpreting the look, Wodensfang winked, and Hiccup groaned inwardly.

Down on the ocean's surface, Fishlegs let out an exasperated growl. "Gods, I'm surrounded by amateurs!" he grumbled. Then looking at Meatlug he added, "Well, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself." He cleared his throat and murmured. "All right…have to create the mood…let's see…"

He paused, let the music flood through him, fill him. Then he opened his mouth and started to sing.

"_There you see her_

_Sitting there across the way_

_Doesn't have a lot to say_

_But there's something about her_"

If he'd been upset at hearing Wodensfang's attempt at serenading, it was nothing compared to what Hiccup felt when he heard Fishlegs' voice floating up to him from the water below. "Are you crazy?" he wanted to yell. What if Astrid heard him? It was a lot harder to explain disembodied voices than it was to explain singing dragons.

However, it seemed that Astrid hadn't heard Fishlegs, at least not clearly. A faint frown creased her forehead, and Hiccup rolled his eyes as Fishlegs continued:

"_And you don't know why_

_But you're dying to try_

_You wanna kiss the girl_"

"Did you hear something?" Astrid asked him, and he shook his head, trying to arrange his expression into a neutral one. This apparently satisfied Astrid, who rested her head on Hiccup's shoulder again. Hiccup sighed. At least Wodensfang had stopped screeching. Thank the gods for small favors.

Of course, Fishlegs was still dropping not-so-subtle hints:

"_Yes, you want her_

_Look at her, you know you do_

_Possible she wants you too_

_There is one way to ask her_

_It won't take a word_

_Not a single word_

_Go on and kiss the girl_"

Maybe Fishlegs was right, Hiccup thought. Maybe this was the perfect time to kiss her. She was relaxed and happy, her head was on his shoulder, her hand had been in his only moments before…

Then an idea came to him. Grinning, he stood up and held out his hand. Looking bemused, she accepted it and rose to her feet. In response to her questioning look, Hiccup gestured to Toothless, who was reclining nearby, watching them impassively.

Understanding at once, Astrid smiled and nodded, and as Fishlegs started on the chorus, they headed over to where the dragon lay and climbed on his back. Toothless glanced back curiously at Hiccup, a little confused, but he spread his wings obediently and took to the sky. Astrid wrapped her arms tight around Hiccup's waist, but she laughed with joy as the Night Fury flew upward, his great black wings spread proudly on either side.

_You're not the only one who can set a mood, Fishlegs_, Hiccup thought triumphantly, glancing back as Astrid raised her hand, letting her fingers brush the clouds, a broad grin spreading across her face.

Fishlegs, raising his voice slightly so that his song carried up to them, sang on:

"_Sha la la la la la_

_My oh my_

_Looks like the boy's too shy_

_Ain't gonna kiss the girl_

_Sha la la la la la_

_Ain't that sad?_

_Ain't it a shame?_

_Too bad, he's gonna miss the girl_"

Hiccup frowned at these words, but before he could dwell too deeply on them, Astrid leaned forward slightly and said into his ear, "You know, I feel really bad about not knowing your name." Then she brightened. "Maybe I could guess."

Hiccup shrugged and waited. Astrid considered for a second. "Is it…Magnus?"

Hiccup made a face and Astrid laughed. "Okay, no…how about…Sven?" Hiccup shook his head. "Bjorn?" Another head shake.

Fishlegs, still using his singing voice, called up, "_Hiccup. His name is Hiccup_."

Astrid frowned. "Hiccup?" she murmured. Hiccup stiffened and looked back at her sharply. She'd heard that?!

She misinterpreted his expression. "Hiccup?" she clarified.

Grinning sheepishly, Hiccup nodded and then shrugged as if to say, "Yeah I know, but it's not the worst."

Astrid smiled. "Well…it's an interesting name. I like it." She tightened her grip just slightly and leaned into him. "All right. Hiccup."

Hiccup rather thought his heart would stop beating right then and there. He grinned rather goofily. _Well, well, Fishlegs_, he thought. _Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all… _

And with that, he directed Toothless back down toward the sea, letting the dragon glide over the endless expanse of water stretching toward the horizon. Fishlegs' song was clearer down here, though Astrid still couldn't make out the lyrics. Only Hiccup's ears, accustomed as they were to merman song, could discern what his friend was saying. But now he actually listened, wondering if now was in fact the right time to make his move as the song suggested.

"_Now's your moment_

_Soaring o'er the ocean blue_

_Boy you'd better get a clue_

_No time will be better_

_You can't say a word_

_And she won't say a word_

_Until you kiss the girl_"

Hiccup had Toothless turn around, keeping Berk in their sight. The dragon crooned, sensing his friend's raging emotions, and Hiccup grinned. Even Toothless was offering encouragement at this point, it seemed.

Fishlegs' song was nearing its climax:

"_Sha la la la la la_

_Don't be scared_

_You've got the mood prepared_

_Go on and kiss the girl_

_Sha la la la la la_

_Don't stop now_

_Don't try to hide it how_

_You want to kiss the girl_"

Hiccup glanced back at Astrid. Her face was set in an expression of utter contentment. The setting sun reflected in her bright blue eyes, a sight that left Hiccup utterly breathless. This was his chance! If he was going to kiss her, now was indeed the time to do it.

"_Sha la la la la la_

_Fly along_

_And listen to the song_

_The song says kiss the girl_

_Sha la la la la_

_Music plays_

_Do what the music says_

_You got to kiss the girl_"

Hiccup hesitated, twisting his body just slightly so that he could face her. Astrid raised her head off his shoulder, their eyes locked.

Down below, watching them, Fishlegs gently prompted:

"_You've got to kiss the girl_"

Neither Hiccup nor Astrid moved. They were still staring into each other's eyes. Hiccup's heart was in his throat. _I can do this_, he thought. _I have to do this. I love her. Maybe she loves me too. I won't get another chance like this. _

He started to tilt his head slowly, cautiously toward her. His intention was unmistakable, but Astrid didn't draw back. If anything, she leaned just a little closer.

"_You wanna kiss the girl_"

They inched closer, their heads tilting just slightly, their lips set on a course to meet at last. Astrid's eyes fluttered closed, and Hiccup felt his heart bound. _Love me_, he silently begged. _Please, please love me. _

"_You've gotta kiss the girl_"

They were seconds away from kissing. Hiccup closed his eyes, puckered his lips just slightly in preparation. He held his breath.

Fishlegs watched with an eager smile. _This was it! _He sang one last line, just to make sure:

"_Go on and kiss the girl_"

Their lips just brushed against each other…

And then something burst out of the water right in front of Toothless. The Night Fury screeched in terror and rage as the familiar, hated stench of eel filled his nostrils, and he jerked back compulsively. Hiccup and Astrid, caught off-guard, were both thrown from the dragon's back and into the ocean.

Just like that, the spell was broken.

Fishlegs blinked, momentarily stunned by this sudden turn of events. Then he groaned. "Oh, they were so close!" Meatlug warbled sadly.

Hiccup floundered in the water, beating back panic as he remembered he had neither fins nor the ability to breathe in the sea. Thankfully, Astrid was there to help him. "It's okay!" she called. "Hang on! I've got you!"

She wrapped her arms around him and held his head above the surface until he'd calmed down. He coughed and spluttered and then grinned sheepishly at her. She laughed lightly. "Well that didn't quite go according to plan."

Hiccup's smile flickered. No. It hadn't gone according to plan. Something had gone terribly wrong.

But what?

…

Alvin the Treacherous waited just long enough to ensure that he had stopped the kiss before swimming as fast as he could back to his mother's dwelling. He certainly didn't want to be caught by that Night Fury when it recovered from its shock.

When he returned to the dragon skeleton's ribcage, Excellinor barely glanced up at him before returning her gaze to the image floating above the cauldron. "Nice work, Alvin," she said brusquely. "That was a close one. Too close." She snarled. "The little player! He's better than I thought."

She turned around and swam over to her cabinet, rummaging through ingredients with great impatience. "At this rate, he'll be kissing her by sunset for sure! Well…it's time Excellinor took matters into her own tentacles!"

She threw some bottles and vials into the cauldron, making it hiss and steam. Then she swam over to Alvin, pulling her shell necklace over her head and putting it around her son's neck. He frowned down at it in confusion, but she didn't offer an explanation. Instead she said, "Stoick's son will be mine! And then I'll make him writhe. I'll see him wriggle like a worm on a hook!"

She started to laugh as a golden light engulfed Alvin, who suddenly understood his mother's evil plan. He started to laugh too as the glow around him intensified. And slowly, as his body began to morph and change, his voice became higher, less guttural, more musical…

…the voice of the merman prince.

**A/N: I'm not sure if Berk Vikings would have had a spontaneous dance in the middle of town or not, but…it's an AU, just go with it. **

**I hope you're enjoying the story! **

**By the way, in case you're interested in more "Little Mermaid" based material, I just posted an older story of mine called "Reaching for Sunlight." It's also a gender reversal, though it's a bit closer to Hans Christian Andersen's original story. It's kind of a loving send-off to my favorite fairy tale, combining elements of Andersen's tale, the Disney film, and the Broadway musical. If you're enjoying **_**Out of the Sea**_**, I think you might like it so I encourage you to take a look. **

**And…sequel? It would be an original story and I've already got most of it planned out in my head, but…I don't know, what do you think? **


	7. Chapter 7: Deception

**A/N: Please forgive me if Astrid seems slightly out of character in this chapter. I didn't want to go with the whole bewitchment thing the movie does so I chose this instead. It's a tad closer to the original fairy tale. If it bothers you, don't worry. She'll be totally herself again next chapter. **

**To Guest reviewer: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed "Reaching for Sunlight." It's such a personal story for me and I'm thrilled you liked it. :) **

**Enjoy! **

Chapter Seven

Deception

Astrid stood alone on the cliffs overlooking the beach, the darkness of the night concealing her completely from view. She was playing Gobber's panpipes again, trying desperately to mimic the song she'd heard sung to her only days ago. But try as she might, the music was only a laughable imitation. There was just no way to recreate the man's voice. She sighed and lowered the instrument from her lips, gazing sadly out at the sea.

"I wondered where those went."

Astrid whirled around to see Gobber standing a few paces behind her. She'd been so intent on the music that she hadn't heard him approach. She silently cursed herself for lowering her defenses and prepared herself for a lecture.

But Gobber didn't seem to be angry. Indeed, he was watching her with a small, understanding smile on his face.

"Sorry," Astrid mumbled after a while. "I was planning on returning them."

Gobber shrugged. "Eh, don't trouble yourself over it."

Astrid nodded and fell silent.

"You know, Astrid," Gobber said after a moment, stepping toward her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "If I may say, far better than any dream man is one of flesh and blood. One warm and caring…and right before your eyes."

Astrid looked at him, eyebrows raised. Then she turned slightly. She could see the forge from where she stood, and in the light of the fire still burning within it she saw Hiccup scratching and rubbing his Night Fury affectionately. The dragon obviously loved the attention, closing his eyes and leaning into his friend's expert touch. The sight was heartwarming, and Astrid couldn't help but smile.

She looked back at Gobber and handed him the panpipes. He accepted them without a word, but he smiled and nodded to her before turning and walking away, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

Astrid hesitated for a moment. Maybe Gobber was right. Her mystery man had disappeared and probably wasn't coming back. And meanwhile there was someone here who obviously cared deeply for her, someone who she suspected she might be falling for as well…

She smiled and nodded to herself. She'd made up her mind. She was going to go to Hiccup and tell him how she felt about him. It was unconventional for her to make such a move, but Astrid had never really felt bound by silly traditions. She glanced just once back at the dark ocean before turning to the forge.

But she'd barely taken a single step when she heard a voice floating up from the beach below: "Help…"

It was so faint that she wasn't sure she'd heard it at all. She paused and turned back to the cliff, frowning. There was nothing but silence. Had she imagined it?

And then: "Help…help me, please…someone…"

Her heart missed a beat, and without pausing to think she rushed down the path to the shore. Her feet met sand and she stopped, looking around. "Hello?" she called. "Is there anyone there?"

"Here," came the faint reply. "I'm over here…help me…"

Astrid followed the sound of the voice and gasped. There was a man lying half-in and half-out of the water. His face was obscured by shoulder-length black hair. He had a strong, muscular build, but his limbs were limp and motionless. He'd clearly been through some kind of trauma.

Astrid ran toward him, kneeling down and helping him up onto his knees. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Are you hurt?"

"No," the man replied, looking up at her. He had dark eyes, eyes that held Astrid captive for a moment or two. He was handsome, even in his current state, and she felt her heart stutter. "No, I'm not hurt…just so tired…"

That voice…it was so familiar…

The man's eyes widened suddenly. "It's you!" he gasped. "You're the girl I pulled from the water!"

The moment the words left his lips, Astrid recognized the voice. It was the one she'd been hearing in her dreams ever since she'd been shipwrecked. The voice that had sung to her on this very spot. The voice of her rescuer, her mystery man. He'd come back after all.

"You're the one who saved me!" she breathed, finally forcing her tongue to work. "You sang to me here on the beach! But when I opened my eyes you were gone!"

The man chuckled weakly. "Well…it seems as though I've been saved by the woman that I myself rescued." He smiled at her, and Astrid felt all the air leave her lungs. "Isn't fate artistic?"

…

Hiccup wasn't at all accustomed to being awoken by loud, chattering dragons on a regular basis. He was used to waking up on his own, usually with sunlight shining through the clear waters surrounding the castle, Toothless sleeping beside him. His mornings were typically peaceful and serene, giving him plenty of time to fully wake and ready himself for a new day.

So it really wasn't any surprise that he couldn't comprehend what Wodensfang was babbling about.

The little Terror had streaked into the forge first thing that morning, squawking at the top of his lungs, "Hiccup! Hiccup, wake up! Wake up! I just heard the news! Congratulations, kiddo, we did it!"

Toothless opened his eyes blearily and growled at being disturbed, but Wodensfang didn't seem to notice. He'd landed on Hiccup's chest and was crowing his delight into the prince's slack-jawed, sleepy face. He blinked and frowned, more than a little irritated and very confused.

Seeing the blank look on Hiccup's face, Wodensfang scoffed. "Oh as if you didn't know!" he laughed. "The whole village is buzzing about the heir getting herself engaged!"

Hiccup blinked and stared at him. The words made sense in some vague corner of his brain, but at the moment he couldn't figure out what they meant. Apparently confused by Hiccup's lack of reaction, Wodensfang prodded, "You know, she's getting married."

This still got no response from Hiccup, but Wodensfang was too excited to ask himself why this might be. He batted Hiccup lightly (well, light-ish) over the head with one of his wings. "You lucky guy," he chuckled. Then he took flight and soared out of the shop, calling back, "Just wait till Fishlegs finds out about this!" Then he was gone.

Hiccup stared blankly at the spot where the little dragon had disappeared. Then he looked quizzically at Toothless, who warbled in confusion back at him.

Hiccup thought for a moment, trying to put the pieces together. The heir was engaged to be married. Astrid was the heir. Wodensfang had been offering congratulations.

And then it clicked.

His face broke into the widest smile Toothless had ever seen on his friend before as he leapt to his feet, running his hands excitedly through his hair in an unsuccessful attempt to tidy it. He reached out and hugged the head of the bewildered dragon, who crooned, apparently worried for his friend's sanity. Then Hiccup tore from the room, running as fast as he could toward Astrid's house. Upon reaching it, he managed to collect himself a bit, just enough to knock on the door rather than go barging in.

"Come in," said Astrid from inside, and he threw the door open, preparing to throw his arms around the girl he loved and finally kiss her and…

He froze on the threshold. Astrid wasn't alone in the room. Gobber was there, which wasn't really surprising. But there was a second man sitting in a chair next to Astrid. He was tall, dark, handsome, with black hair and perfect white teeth.

And he was holding Astrid's hand in his.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called, grinning and gesturing for him to enter. He did so, closing the door behind him automatically, his eyes never leaving the stranger, who was silently observing him with what might have been a condescending sneer on his face.

"Hiccup, this is Vanick," Astrid said, looking at the man beside her. "I found him on the beach last night, where he'd washed up from a shipwreck. Hiccup…" Astrid's eyes were shining with unconcealed joy as she looked back at the merman prince. "This is the man who saved my life! He's the one who sang to me on the beach, the one whose voice I heard!" She turned her gaze again to Vanick, who smiled wordlessly down at her. "We're engaged to be married."

Hiccup felt as though the ground beneath him had fallen away. He sank back against the door, his jaw dropping open in shock. No, it wasn't possible! He was the one who'd saved her, the one who'd sung to her, the one who loved her more intensely than he'd have ever thought possible. She must be mistaken! How could she think this man was her rescuer? And did this mean that she felt nothing for him at all? He'd thought that there'd been something between them, but now…

A sharp, intense pain flared in his chest, and he realized his heart was breaking.

Astrid didn't seem to notice any of this. She was still gazing happily up at her mystery man. "We're going to have a party tonight at sunset," she was saying. "We'll be using one of the larger fishing boats. Will you come?"

She looked at Hiccup, who quickly arranged his face into what he hoped was a neutral expression. He nodded and inclined his head as if to say, "If that is what you wish."

"Wonderful!" Astrid said, and she sounded genuinely happy. Hiccup felt his heart clench and knew that he had to leave. If he stayed here any longer he would either attack this Vanick or burst into tears, and he didn't want to do either for fear of hurting or upsetting Astrid.

So he quickly turned and left the house, keeping his back straight and his head high, closing the door sharply behind him. He walked as fast as he could back to the forge, where Toothless still sat. The dragon crooned worriedly at his friend's approach, sensing the roiling emotions churning within him, but Hiccup just threw his arms around the Night Fury's neck. Finally out of sight of the village, alone with his best friend in the whole world, he finally allowed his façade to crumble and started to cry.

Astrid and Gobber both watched Hiccup depart. Astrid's smile flickered for a moment. Even through her euphoria she could sense that something wasn't quite right. Gobber, not nearly as blinded as Astrid was by the arrival of the newcomer, frowned but said nothing.

And Vanick, unobserved by either of them, smiled cruelly and lifted a hand to cover his mother's shell necklace lying hidden beneath the thick fabric of his tunic.

…

The sun was beginning its descent toward the ocean's surface. The village was busy preparing the engagement party, loading food and drink onto the boat chartered for the event. From the air, Wodensfang observed the goings-on, grinning eagerly. He swooped and spun and spiraled through the sky, humming and singing to himself. How exciting all this was! His friend Hiccup was finally getting married to the girl of his dreams! All their hard work and sacrifices had paid off! Surely they had kissed by now and forever sealed the Sea Witch's spell, making the prince a human forever. A happily-ever-after was just over the horizon.

Fishlegs had been ecstatic to hear the news of Hiccup's engagement. He'd asked Wodensfang to fetch his friend so that he could congratulate him personally, but the little dragon had been unable to locate the prince. He hadn't been at the forge, nor had he been seen anywhere else around the village.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Hiccup had mounted Toothless as soon as his sobs had subsided, and together they had gone for a flight, landing in a secluded little cove in the middle of the woods. Hiccup decided to wait there until the party, where he could be alone with his dragon and not have to face the villagers. He didn't want to see Snotlout or the twins making jokes and laughing at his misfortune. He didn't want to see Gobber's look of pity. And he most certainly didn't want to see Astrid arm-in-arm with Vanick.

No. He'd wait here until the party. Then he'd be on the boat at sunset. When the third day finally ended, he'd already be on the ocean, in easy reach for Excellinor to claim him. After all, a deal was a deal.

But Wodensfang knew none of this. He was still soaring over the village as it prepared for the party, humming and singing to himself.

And then another song reached his ears, and he paused, frowning. He knew that voice. He'd heard it over and over again for years, knew its unique pitch and tone. That was Hiccup's voice. He'd recognize it anywhere. But Hiccup was mute now. So how…?

He swooped down, following the sound of the voice right up to Astrid's house. The singing was coming from the upstairs room, and Wodensfang perched on the windowsill, peering curiously inside.

Vanick was preparing for the celebration, examining his reflection in a cracked, dusty mirror hanging on the wall. The Sea Witch's necklace hung exposed on his chest, and it glowed faintly as he sang:

"_What a handsome-looking groom I'll make, oh gods this is divine_

_Things are working out according to our ultimate design_

_Soon we'll have that little merman and the ocean will be mine_"

He laughed wickedly and shifted slightly. Wodensfang gasped. The man reflected in the mirror was not the man standing before it. The man in the glass was thin and wiry, pale yellow skin stretched tight over prominent rib bones. His hair was long and lank and seemed to be waving and drifting around his face, as if he was submerged in water. And at a spot just below his navel, his body morphed into that of a green eel.

Wodensfang knew immediately who it was. "Alvin the Treacherous!" he gasped.

Thankfully Alvin was too busy laughing over the imminent success of his mother's plan to notice the little dragon, and Wodensfang took off before he could be spotted. He wasn't necessarily the brightest of his species, but Wodensfang was able to quickly figure out what he'd seen. The witch must have put a spell on her son to trick Astrid into thinking he was her savior. Hiccup's voice must have been in that shell necklace, and as long as he had it, he held Astrid's heart captive. Wodensfang didn't know why they were doing this, but he did know one thing: he had to find Hiccup and tell him, and fast. Sunset was rapidly approaching. He was running out of time.

Unfortunately, he was so busy trying to riddle out the Sea Witch's scheme that he wasn't paying attention to where he was flying. He'd only gotten a few yards away from Astrid's house before he crashed head-first into a wooden pole and fell right out of the sky. He dropped into a bush, unseen by any of the villagers. His head swam and his vision faded, and the next moment he fell unconscious.

…

The party ship departed at dusk, crowded with Vikings all celebrating the engagement of their heir. Finally, at long last they would have a chief once more. Gobber did a great job as acting chief, but they desperately needed Astrid to take her rightful place by her husband's side and lead them.

Only one person wasn't celebrating with the rest. Hiccup stood at the rail, staring forlornly down into the sea. Toothless was perched on the mast above him, crooning worriedly down to his friend, but the prince didn't acknowledge him. Before the night was out he would be forced away from the Night Fury forever, and he thought it best to go ahead and start distancing himself now.

On the other side of the ship, Astrid was shooting Hiccup furtive glances. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. She'd been so certain that she'd be happy once she found the mystery man. His voice was the key to her heart, and now that she'd finally found him she should have been dancing for joy. But…

She looked again at Hiccup, and something in her heart moved. She couldn't identify what it was or why, but she felt different whenever she was with Hiccup. Even now, with Vanick by her side, her hand clasped in his, she didn't feel quite right. It was as though a piece of her had gone mysteriously missing, a piece she couldn't even name.

"Are you all right, Astrid?" Vanick asked, and Astrid inhaled sharply. Oh, that voice…that voice…why was it that she couldn't be happy even though she'd found that voice? Had she been too hasty? Had she made the wrong choice?

She tried to smile up at him and replied, "Of course I am." But she knew deep down that she wasn't. Nothing about this was all right. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.

Meanwhile, Hiccup continued to stare into the water below, not noticing or caring that Astrid was continuing to glance at him, unaware of the battle raging in her heart. For him the battle was over, and he'd lost. He'd risked everything for the chance to win her, but he'd failed. And soon he would have to pay the price…

The ocean's surface suddenly broke and Fishlegs emerged, grinning excitedly up at his friend. "Hiccup!" he said in a loud whisper so as not to be heard by the others on board, "Wodensfang told me the news, congratul—" The word died on his tongue at the sight of Hiccup's downcast expression. "What is it? What's wrong?"

In answer, Hiccup gestured back toward Astrid, who was speaking to some of the guests and not looking his way. Fishlegs pulled himself out of the water just enough to get a good look at the man standing beside her and gasped. "Oh no…she's marrying someone else?"

Hiccup nodded as Fishlegs lowered himself back into the sea.

"Oh…oh Hiccup…I'm so sorry," the stout merman said sadly. "I…I wish there was something I could do…"

Hiccup shook his head. There was nothing to be done, and he knew it.

Fishlegs reached up and grabbed Hiccup's hand. The prince looked up at him in surprise. "Well…I'll stay with you, my friend. Right to the end."

Hiccup blinked, and then he smiled weakly and nodded in thanks. Fishlegs nodded too, and silence fell between them as they waited for the sun to finally sink below the horizon.

…

Back on Berk, Wodensfang groaned and stirred feebly. He rose to his feet and wavered, his head throbbing and spinning from the impact with the pole. What had happened? One moment he'd been flying off to find Hiccup because he had something important to tell him, and the next he'd…

He frowned. Hiccup? Why had he been searching for Hiccup? What had been so important that he'd been in such a hurry? Was it to congratulate him on his upcoming marriage? No…no, he'd done that already…

He thought. He'd been flying around, humming, singing…he'd heard another voice singing…

He gasped. Hiccup! It had been Hiccup's voice he'd heard, but Hiccup hadn't been singing! It had been Alvin the Treacherous!

He had to find Hiccup! He had to know that Astrid was engaged to the Sea Witch's son! He had to know that Alvin was using his voice to trick the girl into marrying him!

Wodensfang took to the air and looked around. His eyes landed on the vague outline of a ship bobbing on the ocean's surface, a fair distance from shore, silhouetted against the setting sun. His heart missed a beat. He was running out of time. The sun would set in a matter of minutes.

"Hiccup!" he squawked, streaking off in the direction of the ship. He remembered hearing about the party and hoped beyond hope Hiccup would be among the guests. If he wasn't, Thor knew what he was going to do…

His heart gave a bound. Hiccup was there, leaning against the rail. "Hiccup!" he called, swooping in low and coming in for a landing next to the prince, who raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hiccup," Wodensfang panted, exhausted by his flight. "I was flying…well, of course I was flying…"

Fishlegs rolled his eyes.

"…and I heard someone singing, so I went to take a look and saw that man over there, singing to a mirror…" He gestured with his wing toward Vanick, and Hiccup glanced over at him, frowning in confusion. He looked back at Wodensfang as the little dragon continued, "…and he was singing with a stolen set of pipes!" When neither Hiccup nor Fishlegs seemed to get it, he cried, "Do you hear what I'm telling you?! It's Alvin the Treacherous! He's got the Sea Witch's shell! He's using your voice, Hiccup! He's gonna marry Astrid in disguise!"

Hiccup's jaw dropped and he whirled around to stare at Vanick. Now that he looked more closely, he thought he saw a shell-sized bulge under his tunic.

"Are you sure about this?" Fishlegs asked as Toothless, hearing the commotion, swooped down to join his friend.

"Have I ever been wrong?" Wodensfang countered, and then before anyone could answer him he added, "I mean when it's important?"

Hiccup wasn't paying attention to Wodensfang anymore. He looked over at the sun. It had almost vanished from the sky. He only had minutes to act.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs called, and the prince turned toward the merman. "I'm going to get your father. He must know about this. You, Toothless, and Wodensfang get that shell away from Alvin!" And without another word he dove into the water and vanished.

Hiccup turned and marched toward Vanick, black rage rising in his chest. How dare they?! How dare the Sea Witch and her son interfere like this?! They had a deal!

Vanick looked around at him as he drew near, Toothless and Wodensfang flanking him. "Hiccup?" Astrid asked, sounding confused at the expression of hatred spreading across her friend's face. "What are you—"

Hiccup pulled his arm back and punched Vanick as hard as he could. Several people gasped in shock as their future chief staggered backward. Astrid cried out in surprise and covered her mouth with her hands. Gobber, on the other hand, laughed and murmured, "Go get 'im, lad."

Vanick straightened and leveled a furious glare at Hiccup, who pulled his fist back for another attack. But this time, his opponent was ready. He countered the punch and returned with one of his own, his knuckles burying themselves in the prince's stomach. Hiccup doubled over with a gasp, but Vanick wasn't finished with him. He shoved Hiccup as hard as he could, and he fell back onto the deck, winded.

But Vanick didn't get the chance to stand triumphant for long: Toothless and Wodensfang were upon him. The Night Fury roared in rage and lashed out with his tail, sweeping Vanick off his feet. He landed with a grunt and snarled, standing once more, pulling a sword from a scabbard tied around his waist.

Seeing the weapon, Hiccup jumped to his feet and threw himself on his rival, latching his hand around Vanick's sword arm. They struggled for a moment, but Vanick was stronger. He pushed Hiccup aside, ignoring Astrid's yells of, "Vanick, stop it! Hiccup, leave him alone! Stop it, both of you!"

The other Vikings all stood back and watched as the fight continued. Toothless bared his teeth and snapped at Vanick, who leapt backward out of range. His foot landed on something uneven, and he looked down to see a heavy net lying on the deck. Grinning wickedly, he bent down, picked it up, and threw it. It landed over Toothless, who immediately dropped under its weight, unable to move. "Toothless!" Hiccup silently cried, reaching out to free his friend, but he froze as the point of Vanick's sword filled his vision.

In the commotion, the shell necklace had slipped from underneath Vanick's tunic, dangling in open air for all to see. Wodensfang, hovering uncertainly over the fight, saw it and dove without a second thought. He screeched in Vanick's face, and the witch's son winced at the high-pitched sound threatening to destroy his hearing. He lowered his sword in that one crucial moment, giving Wodensfang the chance to seize the shell in his gummy mouth and tug. The cord severed and the shell spun through the air. All eyes were upon it as it rose, paused in midair at the apex of its climb, and then dropped.

It hit the deck and shattered on impact.

Immediately, a bright golden glow rose from the shattered remnants of the necklace, a small orb of light that spiraled into the air, emitting a song that Astrid knew very well. She gasped in awe as the orb floated higher into the air and then drifted over to where Hiccup stood. The prince watched his voice as it approached him, and smiling broadly, he opened his mouth to receive it. A moment later, the song was pouring from his own throat, the familiar notes filling him and warming him down to his very soul.

As the song ended, a stunned silence fell over the party. Astrid was the first to break it. "Hiccup?"

"Astrid," Hiccup replied, one hand pressed to his neck, a grin spreading across his face.

"You…you can talk." Astrid sounded surprised, baffled…but happy. Unmistakably, unquestionably happy. She rushed forward and took Hiccup's hands in her own. "You're the one!" she cried.

"Astrid, get away from him!" Vanick barked, only now his voice was low, gravelly, and unpleasant. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, but it hardly mattered. Astrid wasn't paying him the slightest attention.

"It was you all the time!" she said with a breathless laugh.

"Astrid," Hiccup sighed. "I wanted to tell you…" He trailed off. She was in his arms now, looking up at him with what was undoubtedly love in her eyes. He leaned forward, closing his eyes. She pressed herself to him and tilted her head to receive his lips.

"Astrid, no!" Vanick screamed.

Hiccup and Astrid's lips just brushed against each other once again.

And then the sun finally set.

Hiccup gasped as pain shot down his legs. He wobbled and then sank down to the deck as his limbs joined together, the skin fusing and sprouting scales, his leggings ripping to make room for the new appendage, a pair of fins growing from where his feet had been moments before. He was a merman again.

"You're too late!" Vanick cackled triumphantly. "You're too late!"

Hiccup looked up at Astrid and gestured wordlessly at his newly-formed tail. He couldn't find the words to say that could possibly explain all this to her. She gaped down at him, eyes wide and unbelieving.

But she never got a chance to speak. There was a splash followed by several screams as the hideous form of Excellinor rose from the water, her evil laughter mingling with her son's as she leered down at the merman prince. Hiccup stared up at her in horror as she reached out and seized him in one of her tentacles, lifting him into the air.

"Poor dear. So close and yet so far," Excellinor said to a bewildered and terrified Astrid. And then, with Hiccup trapped in her clutches, she dove back into the sea, Vanick following close behind her.


	8. Chapter 8: Battle at Sea

**A/N: The epic battle! And the only chapter to feature no singing whatsoever. So…yeah, it's a little short. But I hope you enjoy it! **

Chapter Eight

Battle at Sea

It wasn't until Hiccup, Vanick, and that _thing _had disappeared into the water that Astrid was able to move again. "Hiccup!" she cried, rushing to the rail and peering over, but Hiccup was gone, vanished beneath the dark surface of the ocean.

She heard a muffled roar and looked back. Hiccup's Night Fury – she still didn't know his name – was still trapped in the net, struggling and thrashing madly in an attempt to rejoin his merman friend. The little Terrible Terror that had gotten the shell necklace off Vanick was trying to help, but his mouth didn't have the strength needed to cut the cords.

"Does anyone have a knife?" Astrid called to the stupefied crowd.

"Here!" said one of the Vikings, holding up a dagger. Astrid seized it and set to work sawing at the ropes binding the black dragon. A few moments later, with a snap, they broke. The Night Fury stood up and ruffled his wings. Then he stepped up to Astrid, an urgent look in his big green eyes.

She understood at once what he wanted. She nodded and hurried to mount him, pausing just long enough to grab a spear lying forgotten on the deck.

"Astrid! What are you doing?!" Gobber demanded as the dragon took off, making the ship rock slightly.

Astrid glanced back at her guardian and replied, "Gobber, I lost him once. I'm not about to lose him again."

And with that, she and the Night Fury soared over the surface of the water, looking for any sign of Hiccup and those that had taken him.

She gasped. There was something small and dark floating just below them. She recognized it at once.

It was the brown fur vest Hiccup had been wearing only moments before.

…

Excellinor dragged Hiccup down to the seafloor, still clutching him in one of her tentacles. His arms were trapped by his sides and he had no hope of escaping. Behind them, Alvin had transformed back into his usual form and was grinning with wicked delight. The plan was working! In just a few minutes, he would officially be King of the Sea!

"Poor little prince," the Sea Witch crooned as she swam with her captive back toward her dwelling. "It's not you I'm after. I've a much bigger fish to—"

Said bigger fish suddenly appeared and blocked Excellinor's path. The witch came to a halt as the glowing head of a massive hammer filled her vision. "Excellinor, _stop!_" roared Stoick the Vast, looking angrier than Hiccup had ever seen him. Behind him, Fishlegs and Meatlug drifted, both looking winded yet triumphant at their success.

The king's presence didn't deter Excellinor for long, however. "Why, King Stoick!" she said, chuckling. She ran a finger along the hammer in front of her, an evil smile curling the corners of her mouth. "How are you?"

Stoick skipped the pleasantries. His eyes flickered to Hiccup and widened slightly. Then they narrowed in fury and he turned back to the witch. "Let him go!" he snarled.

Excellinor's smile vanished and she instantly became all-business. "Not a chance, Stoick. He's mine now. We made a deal."

She conjured up the contract Hiccup had signed and stuck it in Stoick's face, directing his attention to his son's signature scrawled at the bottom. The king blinked in surprise but his expression didn't clear. If anything, it only darkened further.

"Dad, I'm sorry!" Hiccup cried, still locked in the witch's tentacle. "I-I didn't mean to…I didn't know…I—"

Stoick didn't seem to be listening. He raised the hammer and shot a bolt of blue energy at the contract. The force of the magic blasted Excellinor back into a rock shelf, but it didn't damage the scroll of glowing paper.

Excellinor cackled. "You see? The contract's legal, binding and completely unbreakable. Even for you."

For the first time, Stoick looked worried. He looked down at the traitorous hammer in his hands. It had never failed him like this before, and he was at a complete loss of what to do next.

"Of course," the witch continued in a slow, thoughtful voice, "I always was a girl with an eye for a bargain…"

She released Hiccup, who was too stunned to move. A moment later, however, it didn't matter. He was suddenly surrounded by a bright golden light, a swirling vortex that dragged him down to the ocean floor and rooted him to the spot. And…was he shrinking?

He looked down at himself and felt a thrill of horror. His whole body was slowly shriveling up, his skin creasing and wrinkling, his spine hunching over and contracting. His hair receded and his features steadily distorted. His skin turned an unpleasant gray color. He was turning into a polyp.

Through all this, Excellinor continued speaking, "The son of the great Sea King is a very precious commodity…but I might be willing to make an exchange for someone…even better…"

Stoick tore his eyes away from his son's shriveling form and looked at the witch furiously. He knew what she was asking for. He didn't have to be told. He said nothing. He didn't move.

Smiling coldly, Excellinor held out the contract. "Now…do we have a deal?"

Down on the sea floor, Hiccup shook his head…or tried to. His new body didn't really allow for that kind of motion. But it hardly mattered. Stoick had already made up his mind. He may have been king, but he was also a father. And he'd do anything to protect his son.

He raised the hammer again and another burst of light shot from its head. But this time, instead of blasting the hated scroll of paper, the energy merely replaced Hiccup's signature with his own.

"Ha!" laughed the witch triumphantly. "It's done then!"

All at once the swirling golden light left Hiccup, and the prince's body returned to its normal state in a second. But he felt no relief: he watched in dismay as the vortex surrounded his father. A moment later, Stoick was the one withering away. "No…oh no!" Hiccup cried, shaking his head as Excellinor and Alvin cackled in glee.

The glow faded and vanished. Where Stoick had been floating a minute ago, there was now only a shriveled polyp with the barest resemblance to the once-great king. His crown and hammer settled on the ocean floor without a sound. From behind him, Fishlegs gasped, "Your Majesty!"

"Dad…" Hiccup croaked, bending down to gaze at what was left of his father. Stoick looked balefully up at his son. His eyes were filled with sadness. Hiccup felt his heart constrict. _I did this… _

"At last," Excellinor hissed, reaching down to pick up the crown and hammer. "It's ours!" She turned and, smiling in triumph, placed the crown atop Alvin's head. Alvin laughed wickedly as he took the hammer offered to him, and the weapon immediately began to glow an awful, evil red. "You are now our king!" the witch cried, and she bowed her head to her son.

"No…no…" Hiccup looked up at Alvin and the witch, both of whom were continuing to laugh victoriously. His face contorted in rage and he lunged forward, tackling Excellinor. "You monster!" he cried, his voice breaking.

The witch snarled and twisted, throwing the prince off her easily and pinning him to the rock shelf with one of her tentacles. "Don't fool with me, you little brat!" she snapped. "Contract or no, I'll—_argh!_"

Excellinor jerked in pain as a spear tore through the skin of her right arm. It was a surface wound, barely a scratch, but she clapped a hand over it and glared furiously around at the one who'd dared attack her.

Astrid was floating a few feet above them, still riding atop Toothless. Hiccup's heart missed a beat. "Astrid!" he yelled, trying unsuccessfully to free himself from the witch's tentacle. "Astrid, look out!"

"Why you little troll!" Excellinor hissed. She turned to Alvin and pointed at the girl and the dragon, who were now swimming back toward the surface so that Astrid could take a breath. "Get them!"

But before Alvin could do anything, Toothless paused. He bucked, unseating Astrid and sending her toward the surface. Then he turned back to the witch and her son and roared angrily, baring his teeth. He darted back down toward Excellinor, who shrieked and darted out of the dragon's path. The tentacle holding Hiccup loosened, and he swam hurriedly away before she could tighten her grip.

"Get her, girl!" Fishlegs called, and Meatlug joined Toothless, roaring and snapping and the angry witch. Excellinor snarled and muttered an incantation. A jet of orange light just missed Toothless and shattered a rock not too far away.

Meanwhile, Alvin was looking up at Astrid, who was still swimming for the surface. He grinned and aimed the hammer at her. "Say good-bye to your sweetheart," he said to Hiccup.

Hiccup's heart went still. The hammer glowed red as Alvin prepared to fire. He looked around for anything he could use to stop the attack.

His eyes fell on the spear Astrid had thrown.

He didn't pause to consider his actions. He seized it in his hands, whirled around, and rammed the tip as hard as he could into Alvin's back. Alvin shrieked as the spear tore through his body, puncturing his heart, the point penetrating right through to the other side and emerging from his chest. The hammer's glow faded and the tool slipped from his slackened grip. A moment later, Alvin the Treacherous drifted to the ocean floor, dead.

Excellinor screamed in rage and threw her arms to the side. At once, Toothless, Meatlug, and Fishlegs were all thrown backward, colliding painfully with the rocks littering the seabed. They didn't move again. "Alvin!" the witch howled, bending over her son's body and wailing in agonized fury. "Alvin!"

She caught a flurry of motion out of the corner of her eye and looked up to see Hiccup swimming as fast as he could to the surface, where Astrid was struggling to keep her head above the water. Her vision went red as she focused on her son's murderer. She bent down and took the crown and hammer in her own hands. Immediately, the hammer shone, and the witch began to grow.

At the surface, Hiccup grabbed Astrid around the waist. She looked intensely relieved to see him, but before she could say anything he cried, "Astrid, you've got to get away from here!"

"No!" Astrid gasped, spluttering. "I won't leave you!"

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but he was distracted by a loud rumbling sound coming from the water beneath them. He looked down and felt his insides freeze.

A second later he and Astrid found themselves sitting atop Stoick's golden crown, now a hundred times its normal size as it rose rapidly from the sea. And rising beneath it was the massive body of the Sea Witch. She cackled as she emerged from the depths, a monstrous creature that continued to grow and expand, her laughter loud, booming, and maniacal.

"Jump!" Hiccup yelled, and he and Astrid dove from their perches on the crown and into the churning waters below. They resurfaced and grabbed onto each other, watching in terror as the witch finally stopped growing. She towered a hundred feet above the surface, glaring imperiously down at them, her great fat tentacles writhing and thrashing madly.

"You pitiful, insignificant fools!" she roared. She raised one of her tentacles and brought it hurtling down toward them.

"Look out!" Astrid yelped, and she and Hiccup dove out of the way. The tentacle missed them by inches, slamming into the water with a deafening splash.

"Now I am the ruler of all the ocean!" Excellinor screamed, waving the hammer in the air. "The waves obey my every whim! The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!" The sky roiled with stormclouds. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. Rain pelted the surface of the water. The sea churned and waves crashed against each other.

Hiccup and Astrid were torn out of each other's grasp. "No!" Hiccup cried, stretching his hand out for her, but he could no longer reach.

Astrid cried out in fear as she was tossed like a rag doll by a gigantic wave. Hiccup tried to swim toward her but the current was too strong. He was utterly powerless.

Excellinor pointed the hammer at the water, and at once the sea began to spiral and swirl. A giant whirlpool appeared, descending all the way to the ocean floor. It was steadily drawing Hiccup in toward it. Panicking, Hiccup lashed out with his tail, propelling him toward a large rock that jutted from the surface. He clung to its wet, craggy surface desperately, pulling himself free of the sea's clutches.

Meanwhile, Astrid was having an equally rough time. She tried to swim away from the giant witch, but the current had other ideas. She was pulled this way and that, and waves pushed her under so often that she soon lost track of which way was up.

She regained the surface after a particularly brutal dunking and gasped for breath.

"Astrid!"

She looked around and saw the party ship floating a few yards away, bobbing wildly in the storm. The mast had broken and fallen, and the ship was in danger of sinking. But it was her only chance. She struck out for it, but again the sea pulled her away from the possible refuge.

It was then that she heard a loud screech, and she turned her head skyward. Her heart leapt. Stormfly, apparently sensing her mistress was in danger, had flown from Berk into the heart of the gale. She was rapidly approaching, fighting valiantly against the driving wind. Astrid held up her hand, and the dragon reached out with her talons. She seized the outstretched arm and pulled her up and out of the water.

"Good girl," Astrid gasped, and then she pointed to the ship. "Take me over there." Stormfly hastened to obey.

Excellinor noticed none of this. Her attention was focused entirely on Hiccup, the one who had killed her son. She snarled and shot a bolt of light at the rock he was resting on. It shattered at once, throwing him into the whirlpool with a yell. He hit the muddy seabed with a thud and gasped in pain, looking in terror up at the witch high above him. Excellinor cackled and fired another shot of energy at the prince. Hiccup yelped and lunged out of the way, and then lunged again as another burst of light followed close behind the first. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. Out of the water, he was completely vulnerable.

Stormfly deposited Astrid on the deck of the ship, which rocked violently under her feet. "Astrid!" Gobber yelled to be heard over the roaring of the storm. "We have to get back to shore!"

"No!" Astrid shouted. "Hiccup's in trouble! We have to help him!"

"How?!" Snotlout demanded, not bothering trying to conceal his fear. He was staring up in open-mouthed horror at the monster still firing attacks at the merman prince.

Astrid turned to look at Excellinor as well, her heart missing a beat as she aimed another shot at Hiccup. Judging from her snarl of rage, she'd missed, but it was a small relief to Astrid. She had to come up with something, some way to stop the witch once and for all. But how…?

Then she noticed something odd. There was a great deal of lightning flashing across the sky, more than was usual for even a storm of this magnitude. But it all seemed to be in one general area: around Excellinor.

Astrid suddenly understood: she had discovered not too long ago that metal attracted lightning. They'd built a series of steel perches for the dragons of Berk, but Thor apparently hadn't liked the presence of so much metal in one place. He'd sent a series of lightning storms until they'd figured it out and took the perches down.

Apparently Thor was very angry at Excellinor, for he was trying to strike the witch down with his lightning. But the hammer was moving so much that it was impossible for the lightning to reach it. If only she'd stay still for just a few seconds…

And then she figured it out. She knew what she had to do.

Excellinor cackled. Her last attack had missed Hiccup by a mere inch. It was close enough that his tail had been burned by its proximity. The prince was exhausted. He couldn't keep dodging like this. He knew the game was up. He'd lost. Excellinor had won. Now she would strike him down and claim total control over the sea, and there was nothing he could do but stare up at her in fear.

"So much for true love!" the witch called, raising the hammer into the air.

It was at this moment that Astrid screamed, "Stormfly, spine shot!" and pointed at the witch.

The Nadder obeyed at once, firing a series of spines from her tail at the hideous monster. They didn't even break Excellinor's skin, but they did catch her attention. She paused, the hammer still held aloft, and glared down at the boat. Her eyes locked on Astrid and her face contorted into a sneer. She opened her mouth to speak…

…and then the lightning finally struck, hitting the head of the still-upraised hammer.

Blinding white arcs of electricity shot down the hammer and engulfed the witch, who shrieked in agony. Her body went into wild spasms and her eyes bulged from their sockets. Everyone on the boat averted their eyes as the light intensified, piercing through the storm as bright as the sun.

And then Excellinor disintegrated.

She fell back into the ocean as her body fell apart and began to dissolve into sea foam. A moment later, her remains had disappeared beneath the waves. At once, the water calmed. The wind ceased its blowing. The rain stopped and the clouds cleared.

And the whirlpool collapsed in on itself, sweeping Hiccup back into the sea.

There was a full minute of absolute silence as everyone on the boat tried to wrap their minds around what they'd just witnessed. Several of them, Snotlout among them, had fainted and had to be revived by their companions with buckets of water to the face. (Ruffnut and Tuffnut in particular found this task immensely enjoyable.)

Astrid was the first to break the silence. She ran to the edge and leaned out over the water. "Hiccup!" she called. "Hiccup, where are you?! Hiccup!"

She got no reply. She felt her heart contract painfully. Did that mean he was…no…no, she couldn't even think the words.

"Astrid," said Gobber, stepping forward. "We have to head back to Berk now, lass."

"No!" Astrid barked. "We have to find Hiccup! We can't leave him!"

"Astrid, we're sinking," Gobber pointed out, gesturing toward a group of men throwing bucketfuls of water over the side. They were barely making a dent in the flooding. The hull had been damaged in the storm and the sea was slowly trickling into the ship. "We have to go back now before the boat goes down." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure the lad's fine, Astrid. Don't worry about him."

Astrid didn't reply. Her throat had become too tight for speech. She merely nodded and turned back to gaze out over the dark ocean. The stars shone above and moonlight reflected off the glassy surface, but she couldn't see the beauty of it all. She was too worried.

"Please, Hiccup," she moaned, her voice shaking and tears filling her eyes. "Please be all right…please be okay…please…please…"

**A/N: I hope you're enjoying the story! Only two chapters left! And then…maybe a sequel? Still not sure about that, but I'm getting some ideas…we'll see… **


	9. Chapter 9: One Dance

Chapter Nine

One Dance

As the Sea Witch died and her body dissolved, her magic broke. One by one, the polyps crowding the floor of her dragon skeleton dwelling morphed back into their previous forms. Over a hundred mermen and mermaids were freed that night, all swimming away from their prison with cries of joy, relief, and delight.

The last polyp to be changed was Stoick the Vast. He watched from his position on the seafloor as his hammer and crown, both returned to their original size, sank from the surface, landing soundlessly next to where he sat. The next second, he sprouted back up to his normal, beefy state. Grinning broadly, he replaced the crown atop his head and lifted the hammer in his hand, reassured by its familiar weight and presence.

Hiccup was unaware of all this. When the whirlpool collapsed, he found himself tumbling head over fins through the dark water. By the time he finally drifted back down to the bottom, he was incredibly dizzy and he had to wait for the world to stop spinning before he dared move. The first thing he saw when his vision returned to normal was a large black shape that was stirring feebly.

"Toothless!"

Hiccup swam forward, his heart in his throat, as the Night Fury regained consciousness, warbling in confusion. "Are you all right, bud?" Hiccup asked, taking the dragon's head in his hands. "Are you hurt?"

Toothless responded by licking the merman's cheek. Hiccup grimaced but then chuckled weakly. He'd take that as a "yes." "Thank Thor," he murmured, hugging his friend. "I'm so sorry about all this, bud. I'm glad you're okay."

Toothless crooned.

"Hiccup?"

The prince looked around and felt his heart bound. Fishlegs and Meatlug were swimming toward him, looking a little battered but alive and whole. Without a word Hiccup darted toward them and embraced the stout merman. "You're okay…you're all okay…" he moaned. "Thank all the gods, you're okay."

"We're fine, Hiccup," Fishlegs soothed, patting his friend on the back rather awkwardly. "We're all fine now." He pulled back and asked, "But what exactly happened? Where are Excellinor and Alvin?"

Hiccup frowned and thought. He had no idea what had happened. He remembered looking up in horror at the giant Sea Witch as she prepared to deliver a final, fatal attack, and then she'd looked around, apparently distracted. The next thing he knew, there was a flash of light and the sea had claimed him again. Now there was no sign the witch had ever been there.

He shrugged. "Alvin's dead, but…I don't know about Excellinor…"

"She's dead too," said a deep, slightly accented voice. "She dissolved into sea foam. The Sea Witch is no more."

Hiccup whirled around and felt his lungs seize up. Stoick was approaching them, smiling in triumph, carrying his hammer proudly aloft. He stopped a few feet away and faced his son. Hiccup stared at him for a moment. Silence stretched between them for a few seconds.

And then Hiccup lunged forward and threw his arms around the king's neck. "Dad!" he cried. "Oh gods, Dad! I…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, I never wanted to cause you so much trouble! I never should have gone to her, it was stupid, but I was upset and wasn't thinking properly and…oh Dad I'm so sorry…!"

Stoick wrapped his arms around Hiccup and hugged him tight enough to impede his son's breathing. "Shh, Hiccup," he said. "It's all right. It's all right now. You're safe. That's what matters. You're safe. The witch and her son are gone and you're safe."

Hiccup drew back and looked into his father's eyes. Stoick looked happier than he'd ever seen him before. "Dad…will you forgive me?"

"Of course I do, son," Stoick replied without a moment's thought. He sighed and cupped Hiccup's face in his hand. "I love you, Hiccup. I know I don't say it very often, but it's true. I love you, son. I love you so much."

Hiccup smiled weakly and hugged his father again. "I love you too, Dad," he murmured. "Thank you."

Fishlegs sighed happily and leaned into Meatlug, who growled happily and licked her master's cheek. Toothless rumbled in approval. For a long moment, no one moved or said anything.

Then Hiccup's smile faded as a thought occurred to him. He pulled back and twisted his head to look up at the surface. Astrid. Was she okay?

He looked back at Stoick. "Dad, I…I have to go back. I have to know if they're safe."

He fully expected his father to refuse, to insist they all return to the kingdom and try to return to their normal lives, to pretend that the past three days had never happened. So he was thoroughly stunned when Stoick nodded and said, "All right. Let's go."

Hiccup blinked and didn't move for a moment or two. Then he grinned and, without a word, turned and swam for the surface. Stoick, Toothless, Fishlegs, and Meatlug all followed.

The sea was so calm and the night was so clear that it was hard to believe there had been a storm raging only minutes before. Hiccup brushed his hair out of his face and looked toward the Isle of Berk. He could just make out the vague outline of a ship approaching the docks in the moonlight. His heart throbbed. Was Astrid on that boat? Was she safe?

He started swimming toward the island, hardly aware that the others were still behind him. As he approached, he was able to see more details. Vikings were filing out of the ship, looking wet and bedraggled and more than a little bewildered. Hiccup scanned their faces but was dismayed to see that Astrid was not among them. Where could she be?

Then it hit him, and he turned around, striking out for the one location he was sure Astrid would go to in order to meet with him.

Sure enough, when he neared the beach where he'd brought her after he'd saved her, he caught sight of a girl with long blond hair pacing back and forth across the sand. "Astrid!" he called, his heart leaping.

The girl looked around, eyes wide, and her face broke with relief. "Hiccup!" she cried, running into the surf to meet him.

Hiccup dragged himself half-out of the water and was nearly thrown onto his back when Astrid all but tackled him, wrapping her arms around him in a way that suggested she was never going to let go again. "You're all right!" she gasped. "You're okay! Oh gods I was so worried!" She drew back and punched him on the arm, and he yelped in pain. "That's for scaring me." Then, before Hiccup could articulate any kind of reply, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "And that's for…everything else."

Hiccup grinned and reached up to stroke her cheek with his fingers. "Oh Astrid…" he sighed, but before he could say anything more he heard footsteps and looked up to see Gobber, Snotlout, and the twins hurrying toward them.

"There you are, Astrid!" Gobber called. "You ran off so fast we lost track of…" He stopped, his eyes widening as they landed on Hiccup. Then he smiled. "Ah, I see. Good to know you made it back all right, lad. I must admit, you had us all pretty worried."

Hiccup grinned sheepishly and replied, "Sorry. Things didn't exactly go according to plan."

Gobber chuckled. From behind him, Snotlout and the twins gaped openly, eyes directed at Hiccup's tail. "Whoa," Snotlout said after a moment. "He's…he's a mermaid?"

Despite everything that had happened over the past hour, Hiccup still managed to feel a stab of indignation. He slapped his fins in the water irritably and corrected, "Mer_man_, thank you very much."

Gobber and Astrid both laughed. The former cuffed Snotlout good-naturedly over the head and said, "Load of dragon dung, eh Snotlout?"

Snotlout didn't reply. Indeed, he looked incapable of speech.

He was spared the necessity of answering by a faint splashing sound. Everyone looked around to see Stoick emerge from the water, followed closely by Toothless, Fishlegs, and Meatlug. The king was smiling faintly, though Hiccup could tell he was rather nervous. These were the creatures he'd feared and hated for so long, and his son had befriended them, was talking to them as equals. It was a bit much for him to wrap his head around.

Hiccup looked back at Astrid, who was gaping at the merman king in surprise. "Astrid, this is my father, Stoick the Vast, King of Hyacinth."

Astrid's eyes flicked back to Hiccup. "King?" she repeated, and when Hiccup nodded she bowed to Stoick and said, "It's a pleasure, Your Majesty."

Stoick inclined his head. "Likewise, my dear."

"King," Gobber murmured. "The lad's a prince, then. We've been in the presence of royalty and didn't even know it."

Hiccup didn't acknowledge this. He continued with the introductions. "Dad, this is Astrid Hofferson."

"The girl you saved?" Stoick clarified, and Hiccup nodded. The king turned toward Astrid and said, "I owe you a great deal of thanks, lass. You came to my son's aid, perhaps even saved his life. Thank you."

Astrid smiled, her face going a little pink. "I would do it again in a heartbeat, Your Majesty." Then she looked at Hiccup and said, "So you're the one who rescued me. It was your voice I heard that morning."

Hiccup nodded. "I wanted to tell you, Astrid, I swear I did, but…" He looked sadly down at his fins and didn't continue. The full implications of what had happened were just now occurring to him. He was a merman again. He'd had a chance to win her heart but he'd failed. Now he'd have to say good-bye to her, possibly for good. His heart suddenly felt as if it had been replaced with iron. Astrid might have been thinking along the same lines, for she took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

Hiccup glanced back at Stoick and said, "Dad…could I have a moment alone with Astrid, please?"

Stoick nodded, looking solemn. "Of course, son. Take as long as you need."

"Thank you," Hiccup murmured as the king withdrew, leading Fishlegs and the two dragons back out to sea. Toothless seemed reluctant to leave his friend but Hiccup nodded, smiling faintly, and the Night Fury relented with a faint grumble.

Gobber didn't need to be told. He turned around and made shooing motions with his hand and hook. "All right, you lot. Back to the village. It's late and we could all use some sleep."

Snotlout seemed to be about to argue, probably intent on taking a closer look at the merman prince. But he didn't get a chance: Gobber grabbed the back of his tunic with his hook and lifted the boy off the ground. "Hey!" he yelped. "Put me down!"

Gobber ignored him and started back toward the village, Ruffnut and Tuffnut trailing along behind him and laughing at Snotlout's predicament.

Hiccup and Astrid were now alone.

"So…" Astrid said after a moment, still holding Hiccup's hand but not looking at him. Her eyes were fixed on the water between them. "What happens now?"

Hiccup sighed. "I don't know," he replied. "I guess…I go back home to the castle and…and you stay here and…" He trailed off. The future suddenly looked unbearably bleak.

Astrid's grip on his hand tightened and he looked up into her face. Her eyes were watery, as if she was fighting back tears. He reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, and her breathing hitched. Silence fell between them. Hiccup couldn't find the words to say that could possibly describe the war raging in his heart.

So he once again turned to song.

"_There is music in the air, can you hear it?__  
><em>

_It's in two, no, maybe three or maybe four__  
><em>

_And I see me stepping light__  
><em>

_With two feet that feel so right__  
><em>

_It's as though as they've never ever touched the floor_"_  
><em>

Astrid watched him as he sang, feeling his music fill her and warm her. Her heart was pounding in her chest. This was the voice she remembered, and it was every bit as beautiful as her memory of it, perhaps even more so. She closed her eyes and allowed his voice to carry her away. Just for a moment, this one moment, she didn't have to worry about the future. She could just lose herself in the magic of Hiccup's singing. _  
><em>

"_One dance, just you and me__  
><em>

_Beneath the moon, beside the sea__  
><em>

_One dance and it's happily ever after__  
><em>

_One dance and they will see__  
><em>

_We're not so different, you and me__  
><em>

_Just us two, me and you__  
><em>

_One dance_"_  
><em>

He took a breath, preparing to sing the next verse, but to his surprise Astrid beat him to the punch. She opened her mouth and let her own beautiful soprano pour from her throat. In some rational part of her mind, she wondered how this was possible. She'd never heard this song before, how could she possibly sing it? But she pushed rational thought aside and allowed the same magic that moved Hiccup to song to propel her too.

"_There are stars that fill the night, can you see them?__  
><em>

_There are two, or three or gee, a million more__  
><em>

_And I see you in their light__  
><em>

_Who, me? A dance? All right.__  
><em>

_Just to move and glide with you across the floor_" _  
><em>

Hiccup smiled as she sang and reached up to cup his hand against her cheek. She leaned into his touch and her voice wavered just a little, but she continued singing without fail.

"_One dance, just you and me__  
><em>

_Beneath the moon, beside the sea__  
><em>

_One dance and it's happily ever after__  
><em>

_One dance and they will see__  
><em>

_We're not so different, you and me__  
><em>

_Just us two, me and you_"_  
><em>

Hiccup pulled himself up a little more out of the water, straightening so that he could look evenly into Astrid's eyes. Pure, raw emotion fueled his voice as he sang:

"_I would change who I am__  
><em>

_Leave the sea for the sand__  
><em>

_Just to stand with you_"

Astrid smiled sadly and she reached up to cover the hand that still cupped her cheek. She continued the verse:

"_I would leap at the chance__  
><em>

_For a glimpse of a glance__  
><em>

_Of one dance with you_"_  
><em>

They both sang the final chorus together, their voices mixing and harmonizing perfectly. It was as if their voices had been made to sing this one song together.

"_One dance, just you and me__  
><em>

_Beneath the moon, beside the sea__  
><em>

_One dance and it's happily ever after__  
><em>

_One dance and they will see__  
><em>

_We're not so different, you and me__  
><em>

_Just us two…_"

Hiccup put a finger to Astrid's lips, silencing her for a moment in order to interject:

"_Dream come true_"

Astrid joined him again:

"_One dance_"

They leaned forward, heads tilting just slightly as they approached each other, eyes fluttering shut. This time, there was no one to stop them.

They sang the last line of the song together: _  
><em>

"_One dance_"

And then Hiccup and Astrid finally shared their first kiss.

**A/N: "One Dance" is a deleted song from the Disney film. I'm not sure at what point it was supposed to appear, but it was taken out because it was deemed "too deep" for the target audience. But I love this song, so I adjusted some of the lyrics, made it a duet, and had Hiccup and Astrid share a song together. ("If Only" doesn't count because they didn't know the other was singing too.) **

**Only one chapter left! I've already got it written so the story's actually finished, but I want to edit it thoroughly before I post it. Expect to see it sometime tomorrow. **


	10. Chapter 10: Happy Ending

Chapter Ten

Happy Ending

From their positions in the water several yards away from shore, Stoick and Fishlegs watched and listened as Hiccup and Astrid sang together, pouring out their hearts in song as only a merman could. It surprised them that Astrid was able to join the prince in his music. They'd never heard of a human being able to sing with merfolk. But then again, they'd also never heard of a merman falling in love with a human. Clearly there were still many mysteries left unsolved regarding the link between the humans and the merpeople, questions that would probably never be answered.

Then they watched as Hiccup and Astrid kissed. Stoick felt his heart sink.

"He really does love her, doesn't he Fishlegs?" he asked.

"Mm," Fishlegs, replied, nodding. "Yes, he does, Your Majesty." Then he looked at Meatlug and sighed. "It's so beautiful, isn't it girl?" Meatlug rumbled in agreement.

Stoick sighed and observed as Hiccup pulled back, breaking the kiss. He said something to Astrid, but from where he was he couldn't hear the words. Whatever it was, though, it made Astrid look as though her heart was breaking. It must have been a farewell.

Stoick considered for just a moment before he murmured, "Well…I guess there's just one problem left."

"And what's that, Your Majesty?" Fishlegs asked.

Stoick looked down at his hammer. "How much I'm going to miss him."

Fishlegs gaped at him, but Stoick didn't answer the unasked question. Instead, he raised the hammer, and the head immediately began to glow a bright gold in color. Then he leveled it at his son. Waves of light radiated from the hammer, illuminating the dark night, streaking along the surface of the water until they engulfed Hiccup's lower body.

Hiccup gasped and looked down at his tail, utterly bewildered. Then his eyes widened and a broad smile spread across his face. He twisted around and saw his father drifting a short distance away. The king nodded his head in acknowledgement, and Hiccup understood.

His heart leaping with joy, Hiccup rose out of the sea, his brand new legs taking his weight easily. He was clothed in a regal blue tunic with matching leggings, complete with a cape that trailed into the water at his feet. Astrid gaped at him in shock but laughed when Hiccup threw his arms around her, hugging her tight. "Astrid!" he gasped. "Oh gods, Astrid!"

Astrid returned his embrace, running her hands through his hair. "What…what does this mean?"

Hiccup drew back and gazed into her eyes, still grinning. "It means my father's letting me go. I can be with you. Forever." He ran his hand across her cheek. "I love you, Astrid."

Astrid's eyes filled with joyful tears. "I love you too, Hiccup."

And without another word, they leaned forward and kissed again.

…

They were married within a month. It was a rather unconventional wedding, which was only fitting for such an unconventional couple. The ceremony took place on the beach where Hiccup had first sung to Astrid, yearning to somehow join her in her world above the waves. The entire village was in attendance, as were a good number of merpeople from Hyacinth, two worlds finally united as one. Hiccup wore the blue tunic and cloak his father had procured for him, while Astrid looked radiant in a floor-length white dress. A flower crown rested atop her golden hair, and more than once Hiccup thought he might just faint at the sight of her.

They exchanged their vows and ancestral swords, as was customary for Vikings. Hiccup had fretted about what sword he was going to give his new bride, but Stoick had risen to the occasion magnificently, presenting his son with a blade unlike anything the people of Berk had ever seen. The blade was long, slightly curved, and engraved with elegant, swirling patterns that mimicked the motions of the waves upon the sea. The hilt was gold and inlaid with a series of sparkling sapphires. The jewels were a perfect complement to Astrid's eyes, which widened in awe at the sight of the sword. Always one with a good taste in weapons, she knew there was nothing that could compare with this gift.

The vows were even more untraditional than the sword. Hiccup and Astrid had discussed it beforehand and decided that their wedding ought to reflect both of their cultures. So naturally, their vows were exchanged in song.

Hiccup began when prompted:

"_I'll swim and sail on savage seas_

_With ne'er a fear of drowning_

_And gladly ride the waves of life_

_If you will marry me_"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several Vikings exchanging bewildered looks. No one had ever heard vows done in song before. But he paid them no mind, focusing his entire attention on Astrid, taking her hands in his as he continued singing.

"_No scorching sun nor freezing cold_

_Will stop me on my journey_

_If you will promise me your heart…_"

He stopped and waited for Astrid to pick up the next line. There was a slight pause, and he could tell she was a little nervous: after all, she didn't ever sing in public. But she was Astrid Hofferson – soon to be Astrid Haddock – and fear had never stopped her before. So she straightened and, looking Hiccup in the eye, sang:

"_And love me for eternity_"

Hiccup smiled at the sound of her voice. Around him, he heard gasps and sounds of delight. Clearly he wasn't the only one to be taken with Astrid's singing. This seemed to bolster her a little, for when she continued, her voice was a bit stronger.

"_My dearest one, my darling dear_

_Your mighty words astound me_

_But I've no need of mighty deeds_

_When I feel your arms around me_"

She held up her arm and Hiccup, still smiling, imitated her, bracing his own against hers as they began to dance. The Vikings' eyes widened but the merpeople, accustomed to such displays in moments of high emotion, merely smiled.

As they danced, Hiccup picked up the song, increasing the tempo slightly.

"_But I would bring you rings of gold_

_I'd even sing you poetry_

_And I would keep you from all harm_

_If you would stay beside me_"

Astrid, grinning and a little breathless, continued the song:

"_I have no use for rings of gold_

_I care not for your poetry_

_I only want your hand to hold_"

As they spun around, Hiccup interjected:

"_I only want you near me_"

They sang the remaining lines together, twirling around, laughing joyously, unaware that around them, the people were actually starting to get into the music, now that the shock of it was wearing off. Claps and cheers mingled with their voices as the song got a little faster, but neither Hiccup nor Astrid noticed: they were both focused only on each other and their vows.

"_To love and kiss, to sweetly hold_

_For the dancing and the dreaming_

_Through all life's sorrows and delights_

_I'll keep your love inside me_"

The song got faster and faster, spinning toward its conclusion.

"_I'll swim and sail on savage seas_

_With ne'er a fear of drowning_

_And gladly ride the waves of life_

_If you will marry me_"

The song finished, their vows said, Hiccup and Astrid leaned in for a kiss. Only then did they become aware of the sensation they'd caused. Laughing a little breathlessly, they held each other close until the next step of the ceremony – the race – was announced.

The traditional race to the Great Hall was replaced with a race to the docks. Hiccup won, though some, Snotlout included, contested this. But, as Gobber pointed out, there was no rule that said the groom's dragon couldn't help him out a little.

The rest of the party took place on the open sea. Those with legs boarded a ship – the same ship, in fact, that had hosted the party the night of the Sea Witch's defeat, now good as new with a little help from Stoick's magic hammer. Hiccup lifted his bride into his arms and helped her over the "threshold," that is, the side of the boat. Then followed another part of the ceremony: the sword throw. Hiccup had to throw the sword Astrid had given him into the mast of the ship. If it stuck, it meant the marriage was to be successful. If not, well…it was just a tradition, after all…

But he need not have worried. Finding strength he didn't know he possessed, Hiccup hurled the sword and the blade sank into the mast, quivered for a moment, and held firm. Cheers went up from both the docks and the water.

Gobber took up a hammer and blessed the wedding ale, and both Hiccup and Astrid drank from the mug, thus sealing their union.

After that, the partying began. There wasn't much room for dancing aboard the boat, but Hiccup and Astrid managed to share a brief, if slightly clumsy, jig. Wodensfang joined the celebration and tried to contribute a song in honor of the bride and groom, but mercifully Toothless convinced the little dragon to be quiet after only a few notes.

As the sun began to set, Gobber announced that it was time to return to shore. Hiccup leaned over the side of the boat to say good-bye to his family and friends. He took Fishlegs' hand. "Thank you, Fishlegs," he said. "For everything."

"What are friends for?" Fishlegs replied, grinning. "We'll come up and visit soon, okay?"

Hiccup nodded but before he could say anything he heard a sharp cry of "Hiccup!" and looked around. His sister Camicazi was swimming their way, her arms crossed. "Look what you've done!" she said with a pout.

"What are you talking about?" Hiccup asked, frowning.

Camicazi flipped her long blond hair out of her face. "Now that you're human, I'm next in line for the throne, so Daddy's been training me nonstop for the past three weeks! I'm about to go out of my mind!"

Hiccup chuckled. "Sorry about that, Cami."

"Not nearly as sorry as we are," Fishlegs interjected. "Can you imagine her as queen? We're all doomed!"

Hiccup and Astrid both laughed at this. Camicazi glared half-heartedly at Fishlegs but couldn't quite suppress a smile. Turning to Hiccup's new bride, she said, "You'd better take care of my big brother, or else you'll have to deal with me."

"Don't worry," Astrid replied, taking Hiccup's arm and smiling at him. "I will."

Hiccup grinned and kissed her on the cheek. Camicazi smiled, and there wasn't a single trace of teasing in her voice when she said, "Be happy, Hiccup."

"Thank you, Cami," Hiccup replied, taking her hand briefly. "I will."

Camicazi nodded and sank back into the water. Still smiling, Hiccup turned to his father. Stoick was beaming proudly at his son, but he didn't say a word as he rose up on a small swell of water, raising himself to Hiccup's eye-level. They gazed at each other for a moment. Then Hiccup wrapped his arms around the king in a warm embrace. "I love you, Dad," he murmured.

Stoick didn't trust himself to speak, so he merely hugged his son tighter for a moment. Then he pulled back, lowering himself back into the sea and waving fondly at Hiccup, who returned the gesture. Then he turned to his wife.

The song burst forth from his heart as he pulled Astrid close, taking her into his arms.

"_Now we can walk _

_Now we can run_

_Now we can stay all day in the sun_

Astrid, smiling sweetly, sang the next line:

"_Just you and me_"

Hiccup, his heart swelling with joy, added:

"_And I can be_"

And they both finished the song together:

"_Part of your world_"

Toothless and Stormfly shot blasts of fire into the air in celebration as Hiccup and Astrid leaned forward and kissed once again. Then the boat turned around and started back toward Berk. One by one the merpeople dove back beneath the sea. Stoick was the last to leave, pausing to send one last farewell wave to his son. Hiccup returned the wave with a smile, and then the king too slipped under the surface and vanished from view.

Hiccup turned back to Astrid and held her close. He knew what was waiting for him in the coming days. He'd be expected to accept the chiefhood of Berk, a responsibility he didn't feel totally prepared for. He knew that stress and sleepless nights lay ahead.

But all that could wait for now. Because this day was about him and Astrid and the beginning of their new lives together. And that was worth every obstacle to come.

**A/N: The End! **

**Okay…announcements…first of all, I'm sorry for using "For the Dancing and the Dreaming" again. This is the third time I've used it in my HTTYD fan fictions and I hate repeating myself. But…it just fit too well! How could I not use it again? I promise, though, this is the last time. **

**And if there are any factual errors regarding Viking weddings, I apologize. I did absolutely no research for this story and drew from other fan fictions I've read to construct this chapter. Sorry if I messed it up. **

**I sincerely hope this won't be the last time you'll be seeing merman Hiccup. Several of my reviewers have expressed interest in a sequel and I'm busy brainstorming and planning and outlining. It probably won't be a musical. Since I'm doing an original story, I really have no songs to fall back on like I did for this one. So no songs, sorry. However, I do have a few ideas for what will eventually become **_**Hiccup's Undersea Adventures**_**, a collection of one-shots that occur within this AU. It'll probably be a lot like the **_**Little Mermaid **_**TV show and I may include some songs where plots allow for them. We'll see. I've already got two or three stories in mind, so you'll probably see them pretty soon. **

**If you simply can't wait to know what happens next…here's a sneak peek of what I'm planning to do with the sequel: **

_**Return to the Sea**_**: Hiccup Haddock couldn't be happier with his life on Berk. It's been four years since he and his wife Astrid defeated the Sea Witch and her son, four years of peace and prosperity. The chief and his wife have a beautiful daughter, Hiccup's father Stoick visits frequently, and all seems to be well. But there is trouble brewing under the sea. It seems that not everyone is happy about the peace between humans and merpeople. Dark forces are gathering, and Hiccup will have to return to the sea if he wants any chance of preventing a war, a war that will undoubtedly destroy everything he loves. **

**That's the basic synopsis, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit before it shows up. I need a break! In the meantime, I encourage you to check out some of my other work. If you enjoyed this story, you may also like my story "Reaching for Sunlight," which is another gender reversal of Hans Andersen's "The Little Mermaid." It has a bit more in common with the original fairy tale but also contains components of the Disney film and the Broadway musical. It's a story I hold near and dear to my heart, and I really hope you'll check it out if you haven't already. I've also been working on a retelling of James Cameron's **_**Titanic **_**with the HTTYD characters. Hiccup is Rose and Astrid is Jack, and I've been having a blast with it. There's also a collection of HTTYD one-shots that I've been updating every so often, as well as a separate one-shot of Hiccup singing "Let It Go" from Disney's **_**Frozen**_**. **

**Anyway, after that shameless bit of self-advertising…**

**Thank you all for reading this story and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it! And thank you to all those who left reviews! I may not have answered them all but I appreciate each and every one of them! I hope I hear again from you soon! :) **


	11. Blooper Reel

**A/N: Um…it's probably best not to ask. **

**Long story short, I did a blooper reel for one of my _Lion King _fan fictions several years ago and it was pretty well-received, so I figured, why not do one for _Out of the Sea_? I started thinking of scenes that were good candidates for outtakes and here we are. I know they're dumb and silly, but they're not supposed to be taken seriously. Don't look for any logic here because I promise there is none to be found. They're just for fun. Just bear that in mind. I hope you enjoy them! **

_During the "Fathoms Below" sequence: _

Astrid: "Isn't this great? The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face… A perfect day to be at sea!"

Snotlout: (leans over rail and moans sickly) "Oh yes…deli—_whoa!_"

[The ship lurches on a wave and Snotlout topples overboard with a loud splash. A great deal of laughter follows as the crew struggles to pull a not-amused Snotlout from the water.]

**…**

_Same scene, shortly afterward: _

Gobber: (brandishing fish at Snotlout) "I'm telling you, lad, down there in the depths of the ocean they…whoops!"

[The fish slips from his grip too soon and hits the deck of the boat. A scuffle immediately follows to get it back into the ocean. Gobber grabs it but it slips like a bar of soap from his hands, hits Snotlout in the face, and lands in Astrid's hands. She tries to toss it back to Gobber but misses, and it hits Snotlout again ("Hey! What's the big idea?!") before getting tangled in one of the other Viking's hair. He gets it free and he tosses it again, hitting Snotlout for a third time. At this point the director yells, "CUT!" and the screen goes blank.]

**…**

_During the dragon race: _

[Fishlegs and Camicazi are both trying to catch the black octopus. Fishlegs is closer and he reaches out for it, but his fingers slip off the octopus' surface and don't get a good grip. He and Meatlug go careening off-camera. There is a crash and several screams, and as several merpeople go to make sure no one's hurt, we hear Fishlegs call from off-screen, "I'm okay!"]

**…**

_During the argument between Stoick and Hiccup: _

Stoick: "You went to the surface again, didn't you?"

Hiccup: (grinning sheepishly and shrugging) "Nothing happened…"

Stoick: "Hiccup, how many times must we go through this? You could have been seen by one of those barbarians, by…by one of those humans!"

Hiccup: "I'm sixteen years old, I'm not a child anymore!"

Stoick: "They're dangerous! Do you think I…wait…what…?"

[There is an awkward silence. Then…]

Hiccup: "I messed up the line, didn't I?"

[Laughter from the set]

**…**

_During the "Part of Your World" sequence: _

Hiccup: "_Up where they walk / Up where they run / Up where they stay all day in the—_"

[He is interrupted by a great crash and whirls around in time to see Fishlegs knock over a stack of his human treasures. The two mermen stare at each other blankly for a moment.]

Hiccup: "Hey there, Fishlegs. What brings you here?"

Fishlegs: "Oh you know, the current. Nice place you've got here, by the way."

Hiccup: "Thanks! Took forever to find this little thingamabob here…" (picks up a boot) "…but I think it really brings the whole place together."

[Fishlegs cracks up and this gets Hiccup laughing too. Toothless looks from one to the other in utter confusion.]

**… **

_During Astrid's birthday party: _

[Gobber is preparing to present Astrid's birthday present.]

Gobber: "Happy birthday, Astrid."

[The sheet is ripped from the painting with such force that it sends the shield flying right off the boat and into the water. There is a stunned silence. Then Hiccup emerges, carrying it aloft.]

Hiccup: "Thanks! This is gonna look great next to my collection of axes!"

Astrid: (running to the edge) "Hey! Give that back, we have a scene to shoot!"

Hiccup: (swimming away while still holding the painting) "Gonna have to catch me first!"

[He dives. Astrid huffs.]

Astrid: "Just wait till you get your legs, fish-boy. Then we'll see who's faster."

**…**

_As Hiccup sings to Astrid on the beach: _

Hiccup: "_What would I give / To live where you are? / What would I pay / To stay here beside—_"

[His fingers lightly brush Astrid's cheek as he sings, but this tickles her and she fails to hold her unconscious pose as she bursts into laughter.]

Astrid: "Sorry! Sorry! I'm good, really…"

**…**

_Same scene, take two: _

Hiccup: "_What would I give / To live where—_"

[His fingers haven't touched her face yet, but Astrid starts giggling anyway.]

Astrid: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I can get it together, I promise!" (she giggles)

Hiccup: (rolls his eyes) "Whenever you're ready, milady. I haven't got any plans for this afternoon, anyway."

[Hiccup then yelps in pain as Astrid punches him on the arm.]

**… **

_During the "Under the Sea" sequence: _

Fishlegs: "_The newt plays the flute / The carp plays the harp / The plaice play the bass / And they're sounding sharp / The…_uh…" (music continues, but Fishlegs stops singing, smiling sheepishly) I, uh…I forgot what comes next…"

[Laughter from off-camera]

**… **

_Same scene, take two: _

Fishlegs: "_The newt plays the flute / The harp plays the carp_…I mean…crap!"

**… **

_Same scene, take three: _

Fishlegs: "_The newt plays the flute / The carp plays the harp / The plaice play the bass / And they're sounding sharp / The bass plays the brass / The_…argh!"

[Laughter and groans from off-screen. Someone moans, "We're gonna be here all night!"]

**…**

_Same scene, take four: _

Fishlegs: "_The newt plays the flute / The carp plays the harp / The plaice play the bass / And they're sounding sharp / The bass plays the brass / The chub plays the tub / The duke is the fluke of_…" (he groans and smacks a hand to his forehead) "I'll get it right eventually, I swear I will!"

**… **

_Same scene, shortly afterward: _

Fishlegs: "_Each little snail here / Knows how to wail here / That's why it's hotter / Under the water / Yeah we're in luck here / Down in the muck here / Under the sea_"

[He gestures to where Hiccup…is lying on the rock, fast asleep. Toothless is nudging him frantically, but he's so exhausted that he doesn't even stir.]

Director: "Oh for the love of Thor! Someone wake up Hiccup!"

**…**

_When Stoick calls Fishlegs in to question him: _

Fishlegs: (to himself) "I mustn't overreact. I must remain calm." (swims into the room, bows before Stoick; when he speaks, his voice is high and squeaky) "_Yes?_" (clears throat) "Yes, Your Majesty?"

Director: "Hey Fishlegs, do you think maybe you could go a little higher on that 'Yes'?"

Fishlegs: "Uh…sure, I guess I could try…"

**…**

_Same scene, take two: _

Fishlegs: "_Ye—ack_!" (starts choking and puts his hand to his throat)

Stoick: (concerned) "Are you all right, lad?"

Fishlegs: "Uh-huh…just went a little too high, that's all…"

Director: "…Never mind…"

**… **

_As Stoick is destroying Hiccup's collection: _

[Stoick points his hammer at a pair of boots and they disintegrate. He then demolishes some spoons and ladels, followed by some clothes, books, and weapons nearby.]

Hiccup: "Dad, no!…No, please!"

[Stoick ignores Hiccup and levels the hammer at…one of the cameras, which immediately explodes. His face goes blank.]

Stoick: "Uh…oops…"

**… **

_As Alvin enters Hiccup's grotto: _

Alvin: "Poor child. Poor, sad child. You have a very serious…_waaaaaaaahhh!_"

[Toothless, smelling eel, snaps at him, misses, and starts chasing a terrified Alvin all over the cave.]

Hiccup: "Toothless, no! Wait! He's not really an eel! It's a costume, like mine! Come on, bud, take it easy! You're gonna hurt someone!" (Toothless doesn't listen. Hiccup sighs and puts his head in his hands as the dragon continues chasing Alvin.) "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

Alvin: "_Will someone please get some dragon nip and save me?!_"

**…**

_As Hiccup and Toothless enter Excellinor's lair: _

[Hiccup looks down in shock and disgust at the polyps lining the floor. One of them reaches up and grabs his wrist. He yelps and pulls back, but instead of slipping from its grasp, he pulls the polyp from the ground entirely, still wrapped around his arm. He starts to panic and waves it around frantically as everyone else watches on in amusement.]

Hiccup: "Ew! Eewww! Get it off! Get it off get it off get it off get it off get it off…!"

**… **

_During the "Poor Unfortunate Souls" sequence: _

Excellinor: (adding ingredients to the cauldron) "_But girls dote and swoon and fawn / On a man who is withdrawn / You've got to hold your tongue when you're a man_"

[She tosses in the tongue and the cauldron issues a great deal of fake smoke. Excellinor opens her mouth to continue the song…but then starts hacking and coughing, waving her arms around to clear the water around her. Hiccup covers his mouth to hide his smile.]

Alvin: "Uh…are you all right, Mother?"

Excellinor: "Of course I…(_hack!_) am, Alvin…I'm perfectly (_cough, cough!_) fine…I just…(_wheeze!_) need some oxygen…"

[Laughter from off-screen]

**…**

_After Hiccup is washed up on shore: _

[Hiccup admires his new legs as Wodensfang comes swooping in from above.]

Wodensfang: "Well, look what the catfish—"

[Wodensfang overshoots Hiccup's outstretched leg and instead crashes into a rock. He stays pressed up against the stone for several seconds as everyone gasps.]

Wodensfang: (voice slightly muffled) "Who…put…this…here…?"

**… **

_On the beach as Astrid talks to Hiccup: _

Astrid: (noticing Toothless) "Is…is that…a Night Fury?"

[Hiccup nods and gestures for her to come closer…then looks sharply around at Toothless as he decides now is the perfect time to regurgitate the half-eaten remains of a fish. As he prepares to spit it out, Hiccup waves his arms wildly. Then, abandoning all attempts to salvage the scene…]

Hiccup: "For Thor's sake, Toothless, no!"

[Too late. The half-eaten fish lands right on Hiccup's new feet. He groans and grimaces in disgust. Astrid laughs.]

Astrid: "Hey, so he _can _talk after all! That makes everything so much easier."

Hiccup: (running over to the water to rinse his feet) "Ha ha, very funny."

**… **

_As Hiccup is putting on his clothes in the back room of the forge: _

Gobber: "All right, lass, I know that look. What's on your mind?"

Astrid: "It's just… For a moment, I thought he might have been the one who saved me the other night."

Gobber: "And how do you know he's not?"

[Astrid opens her mouth to reply, but she is cut off by a huge crash from behind the curtain where Hiccup is changing. She and Gobber both turn to look, eyes widening. There's a moment silence. Then…]

Hiccup: (from behind curtain) "Ow…"

**… **

_Same scene, shortly afterward: _

Astrid: "I'm telling you all, he was _real_! I'm going to find that man! …And I'm going to marry him."

[The others all gape at her. Hiccup emerges from the back room…and his foot gets caught in the curtain. He staggers and performs a magnificent faceplant into the ground.]

Snotlout: (sniggering) "Well that's a great omen."

Hiccup: (sighs) "This really just isn't my day…"

**… **

_On the beach that night, after Astrid departs: _

[Hiccup looks out over the ocean, absently stroking Toothless' forehead. Then he opens his mouth and starts to sing]

Hiccup: "_If only you could know / The things I long to say / If only I could tell you—_"

Director: "CUT! Hiccup, you're mute at this point, remember?"

Hiccup: "Oh…right…sorry…"

**… **

_Same scene, take two: _

[Hiccup gazes absently out at the sea as his pre-recorded voice comes from a nearby speaker. He tries to make his facial expression match the lyrics as they are heard, but he'd obviously having a hard time of it.]

Director: Cut! Hiccup, what are you doing?"

Hiccup: (frustrated) "I'm trying to look lovesick and forlorn because I'm think-singing about how Astrid doesn't realize I'm the one who saved her."

Director: (sighs) "Well, you look constipated."

Hiccup: (face reddening) "_You_ try listening to yourself sing and then make your face match the song. It's not as easy as it sounds!"

**… **

_The following day, at the dance in the town square: _

[Hiccup spends the entire afternoon trying to get the dancing scene right. Rather than listing each individual take here, I'll ask you to just imagine him tripping, stumbling, messing up the steps, losing track of the beat, stepping on Astrid's foot, knocking heads with her, and colliding with other dancers over and over and over and over and over again.]

Hiccup: (grumbling after the thirtieth take) "Whose bright idea was it to have me dancing? Who wrote that scene? I'm going to set Toothless on them."

**… **

_At the end of the "Kiss the Girl" sequence: _

[Hiccup and Astrid, seated atop Toothless as he flies over the ocean, lean in to kiss. Alvin jumps from the water, intending to startle the dragon. But instead of pulling up and throwing his riders, Toothless growls at the scent of eel and once again chases Alvin.]

Alvin: "Oh sweet Odin, not again!" (swims away as fast as he can, screaming)

Hiccup: "No, Toothless, don't—!"

[Toothless dives into the water with Hiccup and Astrid still on his back, quite forgetting that neither of them can breathe underwater. The camera stays on the surface, which is silent for a few moments. Then Toothless reemerges, still carrying the two now-very-wet Vikings. He warbles an apology.]

Hiccup: (sputtering and coughing) "Toothless, if you do that again, I'm going to turn you into a dragon-skin coat…"

**…**

_The next morning, as Wodensfang arrives to wake Hiccup: _

[Wodensfang swoops into the back room of the forge]

Wodensfang: "Hiccup! Hiccup, wake up! Wake up! I just—"

[He overshoots again and crashes right into Hiccup's face.]

Hiccup: "Ow! Sweet merciful Freya, ow!" (sits up and covers his nose with his hand, muffling his voice as he sighs) "It's going to be another one of _those _days, isn't it?"

**…**

_On board the party boat, as Hiccup and Astrid are about to kiss: _

Astrid: "It was you all the time!"

Hiccup: "Astrid, I wanted to tell you…" (they lean in to kiss)

Vanick: "Astrid, no!"

[The sun sets, but Hiccup, suddenly forgetting the script entirely, takes Astrid into his arms and kisses her. Astrid's eyes fly open in shock and confusion but she doesn't fight it. For a long moment the two remain locked at the lips. Finally the director smacks his forehead with his palm.]

Director: "CUT! Hiccup, you're not supposed to kiss her yet, remember? You turn back into a merman? Big battle with the Sea Witch? Ring a bell?"

Hiccup: (finally breaking apart from Astrid and chuckling in embarrassment) "Oh, uh…heh heh…right…sorry…got a little…carried away…"

[Astrid looks a little dazed and says nothing.]

**…**

_As Excellinor carries Hiccup to the seafloor and is confronted by Stoick: _

Stoick: "Let him go!"

Excellinor: "Not a chance, Stoick. He's mine now." (holds out contract for him to see) "We made a deal."

[Both wait for Hiccup to speak, but when he remains silent they look around at him questioningly. His eyes are bugging out of his skull and his face is bright red, slowly turning blue.]

Excellinor: (suddenly understanding) "Oh dear! I'm so sorry!" (she loosens her tentacle from around him, and Hiccup gasps and inhales deeply) "I didn't realize I was holding you so tight…"

Hiccup: (sounding winded) "It's…all right…just…give me…a moment…let me…catch my…breath…whew…you really…get into…your role, huh?"

Excellinor: "Heh, yeah, you could say that…"

**…**

_As the battle unfolds on the seafloor: _

[Astrid and Toothless descend from above. Excellinor clutches at her wounded arm.]

Hiccup: "Astrid! Astrid, look out!"

Excellinor: "Why you little troll!" (to Alvin) "Get them!"

[Astrid and Toothless swim toward the surface, but then Toothless bucks Astrid off and turns to face Alvin. There is a pause.]

Alvin: (gulps) "Oh no…"

[Toothless roars and once again starts chasing him.]

Hiccup: (sighs) "Really? Why do I even bother?"

[Some crewmen get a hold of Toothless. Alvin returns to where Excellinor and Hiccup drift, panting slightly.]

Alvin: "Just kill me now, please…"

Hiccup: "Um…" (looks pointedly at Excellinor's tentacle holding him in place and then at the spear lying on the seafloor) "Be with you in a moment."

**…**

_After the battle, on the ship: _

Astrid: "Hiccup! Hiccup, where are you?! Hiccup!"

Gobber: "Astrid… We have to head back to Berk now, lass."

Astrid: "No! We have to find Hiccup! We can't leave him!"

Gobber: "Astrid, we're sinking. We have to go back now before…uh…" (the boat suddenly plunges into the water and disappears, forcing its passengers to tread water while they wait to be picked up) "…never mind…"

**…**

_After the battle, as the whirlpool collapses: _

[Hiccup is tossed head-over-fins into the sea as the whirlpool collapses on him. He is supposed to spend only a few seconds recovering before setting off to search for his friends, but he stays where he is, his head in his hands.]

Hiccup: "Ooh…I don't feel so good…"

[Toothless, concerned, croons and swims up to him. Hiccup sways unsteadily.]

Hiccup: "Yeah, I'm fine, bud. There's only two of you now. There were three a few seconds ago…"

**…**

_On the beach, as Hiccup and Astrid are reunited: _

Astrid: "Hiccup!"

[Hiccup drags himself half-out of the water, but Astrid suddenly tackles him with a bit more force than he was prepared to deal with.]

Hiccup: "Whoa!"

[They both fall back into the ocean with a splash. Laughter follows as they resurface, red-faced but giggling.]

Hiccup: "I'm happy to see you too."

**…**

_During the "For the Dancing and the Dreaming" sequence: _

Hiccup: (dancing as he sings) "_But I would bring you rings of gold / I'd even sing you poetry / And I would—_" (he messes up the dance and groans) "Great. Here we go again."

[There are about fifteen other outtakes of Hiccup messing up the wedding dance. By this point, no one was surprised.]

**… **

_During the wedding ceremony: _

[Hiccup tries to help Astrid over the edge of the boat. For a moment it seems he's doing well. But then his foot snags the rail and they topple into the ship in a tangled heap.]

Astrid: "Ow! Hiccup…"

Hiccup: "Sorry, sorry…are you all right?"

Astrid: (sighs) "Yes, I'm fine."

Snotlout: (sniggering) "Well there's a good sign that the marriage will end in failure…ow!" (Astrid punches him on the arm as she steps out of the boat to try the scene again)

**…**

_Same scene, shortly afterward: _

[Hiccup hurls the sword, and to everyone's surprise – including his own – it penetrates the mast and sticks. He's so relieved that he punches the air and whoops in joy. Laughter follows this as the director smacks his forehead with his palm.]

Director: "Yes, very good, Hiccup. But now that you've ruined the shot, you have to get it again."

[Hiccup's celebrations abruptly cease.]

**…**

_Same scene, shortly afterward: _

Hiccup: "_Now we can walk / Now we can run / Now we can stay all day in the sun_"

Astrid: "_Just you and me_"

Hiccup: "_And I can be…_"

Wodensfang: (screeching at the top of his lungs) "PART OF YOUR WOOOOOORLD!"

[Everyone covers their ears and glares at the little dragon, who looks suddenly sheepish and grins guiltily.]

Wodensfang: "Uh…heh heh…sorry…"

[Hiccup smacks his forehead with his palm.]

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed these! They were so much fun to write. XD **

**Oh, if you haven't seen them already, I've started a collection of one-shots that are a spin-off of this story. It's called _Hiccup's Undersea Adventures_, and if you enjoyed _Out of the Sea_ I recommend you check it out. I hope you enjoy them. They're only two right now, but more are on the way, I promise. **

**I'm still planning out the sequel, _Return to the Sea_, and I'm getting excited about it. Who knows? You might be seeing it pretty soon. **


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